Kiny
Eng
Fr
In Rwanda, Members of Parliament call for technology to reduce waiting time at health centers.
Uwajeneza Donatha
Feb 12, 2024 - 14:00
As the Rwandan government continues to invest efforts in improving various aspects of life, Members of Parliament from the Commission on Political, Gender, and Family Affairs in the country's development have highlighted one of the significant challenges: the issue of long waiting times at health facilities despite people having health insurance and therefore entitled to quality service because they pay a significant amount.
kwamamaza
The Commission on Political, Gender, and Family Affairs in the country's development in the Chamber of Deputies, during Wednesday's session, invited the Ministry of Health to discuss the report on the activities of the National Health Insurance Scheme for the year 2022-2023.
Members of Parliament from the Commission on Political, Gender, and Family Affairs in the country's development expressed concern about the problem of citizens spending long hours when they go to various health facilities and emphasized the need for assistance and urgency.
Hon. BIZIMANA Deogratias said, "Patients wait for a long time, sometimes for two to three hours, once they arrive at health centers."
Minister of Health Dr. Sabin NSANZIMANA stated that there is a system being developed to address queue-related issues, and it is also being worked on to improve efficiency.
He said, "We are going to prioritize the digital queue system. We will establish a system to inform all health centers of the current situation, and another aspect is payment; you often find that some places overcharge or undercharge, but in the system, the money will be tracked from the payer to the telephone recipient, which will prevent fraud. We have set goals that by the first quarter of 2024, this transformation should be significant."
In a pilot project, the Ministry of Health has made it possible for citizens to request services from a doctor within an hour of arriving at one of the health centers. During this time, 80% receive service within the stipulated time, and the remaining 20% are handled by the doctor.
The system aims to streamline services at health centers and is currently being piloted at selected facilities, but it is expected to be rolled out elsewhere within three months.
Article by Vestine UMURERWA / Isango Star Kigali
kwamamaza