Construction of Shyira hospital cost $7m. It now serves a community of 200,000 people from four districts
One month ago, a healthy baby girl was born at a newly built Shyira hospital and her mother immediately named her Umuhire.
Nyiramahirwe Gaudence 25 had been expecting for nine months but on November 20th started experiencing excruciating pain and quickly called a health worker that later rushed her to Shyira hospital where she gave birth.
Construction of $7m-Shyira hospital had been completed four months earlier but before that, residents of Nyabihu district had to trek long distances to seek health services at Ruhengeri hospital in Musanze district.
The only previous choice was Shyira health centre built in 1937. For decades Patients had to endure climbing hills and long distance to reach this facility.
“I was alone at home. It was my first baby but I can’t imagine what I would have gone through if I had to go to Ruhengeri hospital under such painful labour,” Nyiramahirwe told KT Press.
Nyiramahirwe and many expectant mothers and patients in Nyabihu district will no longer have to travel long distances to neighbouring districts for health services.
On July 4th President Kagame unveiled the state-of-the-art Shyira hospital in a geographical corridor that connects Western, Northern and Southern provinces.
This facility which is at a level of a referral hospital now serves a community of 200,000 people from four districts; Muhanga of southern province, Gakenke and Musanze in north and Ngororero and Nyabihu of the western province. It is now a modern hospital with 150 modern beds, staff hostels and a canteen.
Meanwhile, 2017 will also be remembered for Karongi district 1164 community health workers that launched a shopping complex worth Rwf350m and named it ‘Agaciro Legacy Mall.’
About 1164 community health workers are grouped under 22 cooperatives.
Community health workers are not paid salaries but the Health Ministry deposits between Rwf 1million and Rwf 1.8 million on each of the cooperatives’ accounts in appreciation of their priceless service to community.
From this money, every cooperative brought Rwf 15 Million to realize their ‘Agaciro Legacy Mall’ dream.
The building in Karongi is made up of two floors divided into 570 rental zones which targets tenants including bars, restaurants, beauty salons and other businesses.
The old Shyira health centre that had served Nyabihu district for many decades. Residents had to walk long distances and climb many hills to reach this facility. Expectant mothers endured such pain
Other developments in health sector
On November 7th over 50 global researchers met in Kigali to find lasting solutions to cancer because 60% more Africans die from cancer than from malaria.
The researchers chose to assemble in Rwanda because of tremendous strides in responding to Cancer.
Rwanda government operates a $5.8 million Butaro Cancer Treatment Centre in Burera district, which has received more than 6000 cancer patients since January 2011.
In August, Kanombe military hospital acquired advanced technology for diagnosing and detecting cancer, and also the hospital became capable of giving accurate and more precise results in short time.
The modern ‘Omnyx VL4 Scanner’ worth $100,000 installed at this hospital would help patients wait for only 5days down from 14days.
Kanombe hospital receives at least 1000 cancer patients every year with 200 complicated cases.
CT scanner operating again at CHUK after three years
After three years without an efficient full functional crucial CT Scan service at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK), it resumed on April 26.
A ministry of health official told KT Press the machine was constantly breaking down “because it is overburdened by large number of patients”. Every day the machine would handle not less than 40 patients.
