First Lady Jeanette Kagame Lays Foundation Stone for Heart Centre

Rwanda’s First Lady Jeannette Kagame has laid the foundation stone for the construction of a state-of-the-art medical centre specializing in cardiovascular care that will focus on improving, saving lives and building local capabilities in Rwanda and the region.

My Heart Centre,  the treatment centre for heart disease will be built on 4.40 hectares of land located  in Masaka in Kicukiro District, Kigali.

This December 29, 2021, First Lady Jeannette Kagame laid the stone alongside Ambassador Sameh Hassan Shoukry, the Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister among Egyptian dignitaries, who have partnered in operationalizing the hospital project.

The establishment comes after three years of support from the Heart Care and Research Foundation (HCRF), and the Egyptian government to set up this ambitious and vital state-of-the-art medical hub for heart care.

The First Lady said that center is an exciting milestone for Rwanda’s health sector, services, training and research in the country and the continent at large.

Mrs Kagame said that initiative comes at the right time, at end of the year, where often it is an opportunity to look back and make new resolutions to improve the lives of oneself and of the people around.

“Ending the year with the start of a construction project, of the necessity and scale of My Heart Centre, is a perfect bridge into the healthy future we want to embrace as a people,” said First Lady Jeannette Kagame.

For the reason, the First Lady said that the initiative is “a perfect bridge into the healthy future we want to unequal access to quality healthcare, are no longer embrace as a people; a future where the fatality of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs)such as heart conditions, and unbeatable threats.”

The First Lady also said that the initiative will serve generations to come and encourage others to work towards similar or more healthcare models, like MY Heart Centre that combines the humanitarian and the medical ability to serve others.

The Heart Care and Research Foundation – Rwanda (HCRF-R) was established on October 1, 2018.

Its objectives are to build and run an international medical hub named “MY Heart Centre” (worth $20M and to be constructed in three phases)offering its medical services, training, and research to the people of Rwanda and the region.

It also seeks to train a generation of young doctors, nurses and scientists at the highest international standards Rwanda can offer and to advance basic sciences and applied research as an integral component of the program and promoting biomedical research in the region.

The Heart Centre will be able to provide simple and more complex surgeries such as angioplasty for problems like hypertension, chest pain, and more.

The Heart Centre in Rwanda will run in such that it will be accessible to all patients without any other consideration whatsoever except that they need to be treated for their medical condition.

It will have a training curriculum which is in the process of being developed with collaboration of different partners.

Those include the Rwanda Heart Care and Research Foundation, the Higher Education Council, the University of Rwanda, the Ministry of Health and the Human Resources for Health.

Others are Aswan Cardiac Centre and its partners like the Robin Aid Foundation.

HCRF-R will train Rwandan professionals in various fields including cardiology, cardiac surgery, critical and intensive care for medical doctors, nurses and others.

The foundation, with the support of partners such as the Sawaris Foundation also have engaged to fund the construction phase I, up to $20 Million, and cover the entire construction cost.

The foundation has opened an account in the Bank of Kigali (BK) with a USD and Euro account with fundraising activities ongoing and funds expected to be raised in collaboration with Chain of Hope UK and Chaine de l’Espoire France.

The Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD) initial grant of $2.3 Million has already been confirmed by the signing of the tripartite agreement between the Ministry of Health, the Egyptian Embassy and the Heart Care and Research Foundation in Rwanda.