REPUBLIC OF RWANDA

MINISTRY OF HEALTH

FOURTH HEALTH SECTOR

STRATEGIC PLAN

July 2018 – June 2024

Rwanda HSSP 4 I
CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................................ V

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................... VI
FOREWORD ............................................................................................................................................ IX
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................................................. X
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Context and background of HSSP4 .......................................................................................... 1
1.2. Purpose of HSSP4 .................................................................................................................... 1
1.3. Methodology of developing HSSP4 ......................................................................................... 2
2. OVERVIEW OF THE HEALTH SECTOR ............................................................................................... 4
2.1. Policy context of the health sector.......................................................................................... 4
2.2. Sector status and Achievements ............................................................................................. 5
2.3. Institutional overview of the health sector ............................................................................. 8
3. STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK .............................................................................................................. 10
3.1. Vision, mission and objectives of HSSP4 ............................................................................... 10
3.2. Overall and Strategic Objectives ........................................................................................... 10
3.3. Contribution of HSSP4 to Vision 2050, SDGs and NST .......................................................... 11
3.3.1. New priorities and Innovations ..................................................................................... 11
3.3.2. Contribution to the thematic areas and priorities of the SDGs .................................... 15
3.3.3. Contribution to thematic areas and priorities of NST ................................................... 16
3.3.4. NST Cross cutting areas (CCA) ....................................................................................... 16
3.4. Sector Crosscutting areas to be mainstreamed by other sectors: NCDs and HIV ................. 18
3.4.1. Key strategies of mainstreaming NCDs and HIV in Sectors ........................................... 18
3.5. Results Chain of HSSP4. ......................................................................................................... 20
4. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS ............................................................................................ 22
4.1. Sequencing of interventions.................................................................................................. 22
4.2. Stakeholders: Roles and Responsibilities .............................................................................. 23
4.2.1. Roles of central versus local government ..................................................................... 23
4.2.2. Role of the private sector .............................................................................................. 23
4.2.3. Role of Development Partners (DPs) ............................................................................. 23
4.3. Mechanisms for coordination and information sharing ....................................................... 24
4.4. Risks analysis and risk mitigation .......................................................................................... 25
5. ESSENTIAL SERVICES ACROSS THE LIFE COURSE ........................................................................... 26
5.1. Pregnancy, early life and children ......................................................................................... 27
5.1.1. Maternal & Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) ........................................................... 27
5.1.2. Expanded Program for Immunization (EPI) ................................................................... 28

Rwanda HSSP 4 II
 5.1.3. Nutrition ........................................................................................................................ 28
5.1.4. Community Health ........................................................................................................ 29
5.2. Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) ............................................................ 29
5.2.1. Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) ................................................................... 30
5.2.2. Family Planning (FP) ...................................................................................................... 30
5.3. Healthy Ageing and Palliative Care........................................................................................ 30
5.3.1. Health and ageing .......................................................................................................... 30
5.3.2. Palliative care ................................................................................................................ 31
6. COVERAGE OF ESSENTIAL HEALTH INTERVENTIONS..................................................................... 31
6.1. Infectious Diseases ................................................................................................................ 31
6.1.1. HIV/AIDS, STIs and Viral Hepatitis ................................................................................. 31
6.1.2. Tuberculosis, other respiratory communicable diseases and leprosy .......................... 32
6.1.3. Malaria and other parasitic diseases ............................................................................. 33
6.1.4. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD)................................................................................ 34
6.2. Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) & Injuries ................................................................... 35
6.2.1. Overall interventions for NCDs, Injuries and disabilities ............................................... 35
6.2.2. Mental Health ................................................................................................................ 36
6.3. Health Promotion, Prevention and Environmental health ................................................... 36
6.3.1. Health Promotion and Prevention ................................................................................ 36
6.3.2. Environmental Health.................................................................................................... 37
7. ASSURING HEALTH SECURITY ........................................................................................................ 38
7.1. Outbreak and disaster prevention ........................................................................................ 38
7.2. Outbreak and disaster detection, response and recovery .................................................... 39
8. HEALTH SYSTEMS: OUTPUTS ......................................................................................................... 39
8.1. System Resilience .................................................................................................................. 39
8.2. Responsiveness ..................................................................................................................... 39
8.3. Financial risk protection ........................................................................................................ 40
8.4. Equitable access .................................................................................................................... 40
8.5. Building community demand for health services .................................................................. 40
8.6. Quality of care ....................................................................................................................... 40
9. HEALTH SYSTEMS: INPUTS & ACTIONS.......................................................................................... 42
9.1. Health Workforce (HR) .......................................................................................................... 42
9.2. Service Delivery including health infrastructure ................................................................... 43
9.3. Health Products, Medicines and Commodities ..................................................................... 46
9.4. Leadership & Governance ..................................................................................................... 47
9.5. Health Information Systems (HIS) and Research .................................................................. 48

Rwanda HSSP 4 III

 9.5.1. Health Information Systems .......................................................................................... 48
9.5.2. Research ........................................................................................................................ 49
9.6. Health Financing .................................................................................................................... 49
10. MONITORING AND EVALUATION HSSP 4 .................................................................................. 51
10.1. The policy and institutional environment ......................................................................... 51
10.2. Rwanda National Health Observatory ............................................................................... 51
10.3. Institutional capacity for data collection, management, analysis and use ....................... 52
10.4. Country mechanisms for review and action...................................................................... 52
11. COSTS AND FINANCING ............................................................................................................. 53
11.1. Costing methodology and assumptions ............................................................................ 53
11.2. Overall costs per capita for the HSSP4 (in RWF) ............................................................... 55
11.2.1. 11.2.1. Program Support Costs for HSSP4 (in million RWF) .......................................... 56
11.2.2. 11.2.2. Program Costs for HSSP4 by level (in million RWF) ........................................... 56
11.2.3. 11.2.3. Cost of Health System Strengthening (HSS, in Million RWF)............................. 58
11.3. Discussion of the costing results ....................................................................................... 60
ANNEXES.................................................................................................................................................. 1
11.3.1. Annex 1. Organisation chart of the health sector ........................................................... 2
11.3.2. Annex 2. Map of Health Facilities in Rwanda (October 2016) ........................................ 3
11.3.3. Annex 3. List of approved policies and draft policies / @ www.moh.gov.rw ................. 4
11.3.4. Annex 4. Structure and functions of Technical Working Groups and sub-groups .......... 5
11.3.5. Annex 5. Documents consulted ....................................................................................... 8
11.3.6. Annex 6. Service Package interventions by level .......................................................... 10
HSSP 4 IMPACT INDICATORS ................................................................................................................. 20
HSSP 4 OUTCOME & OUTPUT INDICATORS .......................................................................................... 21

Rwanda HSSP 4 IV
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 2. EXISTING ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURES AND RELATED HEALTH FACILITIES ....................................... 9
TABLE 3. PRIORITIES BY SERVICES, PROGRAMS AND HEALTH SYSTEMS ..................................................... 13
TABLE 4. RESULTS CHAIN OF HSSP4 ................................................................................................. 20
TABLE 5. RISK IDENTIFICATION AND RISK MITIGATION MEASURES ........................................................... 25
TABLE 6. BASELINE AND TARGETS FOR RMNCAH................................................................................ 27
TABLE 7. INDICATORS HIV/AIDS & HEPATITIS: BASELINE AND TARGETS .................................................. 32
TABLE 8. BASELINE AND TARGETS FOR TUBERCULOSIS ........................................................................... 32
TABLE 9. BASELINE AND TARGETS FOR MALARIA AND OTHER PARASITIC DISEASES...................................... 33
TABLE 10. BASELINE AND TARGETS FOR OVERALL NCDS ........................................................................ 35
TABLE 11. BASELINE AND TARGETS FOR MENTAL HEALTH...................................................................... 36
TABLE 12. BASELINE AND TARGETS FOR HEALTH PROMOTION AND PREVENTION........................................ 37
TABLE 13. BASELINE AND TARGETS FOR HEALTH SECURITY ..................................................................... 38
TABLE 14. BASELINE AND TARGETS FOR QUALITY OF ESSENTIAL SERVICES .................................................. 40
TABLE 15. BASELINE AND TARGETS FOR THE HEALTH WORKFORCE.......................................................... 42
TABLE 16. BASELINE AND TARGETS FOR SERVICE DELIVERY INCLUDING HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE ................. 43
TABLE 17. BASELINE AND TARGETS FOR HEALTH PRODUCTS .................................................................. 46
TABLE 18. BASELINE AND TARGETS FOR LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE .................................................. 47
TABLE 19. BASELINE AND TARGETS FOR HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEMS (HIS) ......................................... 48
TABLE 20. BASELINE AND TARGETS OF HEALTH FINANCING ..................................................................... 49
TABLE 21. TOTAL COST FOR HSSP4 IN RWF (MILLIONS) ...................................................................... 55
TABLE 22. SUMMARY COSTS FOR PROGRAM SUPPORT IN RWF (MILLIONS) ............................................... 56
TABLE 23. SUMMARY COSTS OF ALL PROGRAMS BY LEVEL (MILLION RWF, EXCL HS INPUTS) ........................ 57
TABLE 24. SUMMARY OF COST FOR HEALTH SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING (RWF / EXCLUDING DRUGS) .............. 58

Rwanda HSSP 4 V
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

AIDS Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome

ANC Ante Natal Care
ASRH&R Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
ARI Acute Respiratory Infections
ART Anti-Retroviral Treatment
BCC Behavioral Communication and Change
BTC Belgian Technical Cooperation
CBHI Community Based Health Insurance schemes (= Mutuelle de Santé)
CHUB Butare University Teaching Hospital (Teaching Hospital)
CHUK Kigali University Teaching Hospital (Teaching Hospital)
CHW Community Health Worker
CPAF Common Performance Assessment Framework (used for GBS and SBS
Development Partners)
CPR Contraceptive Prevalence Rate
CSO Civil Society Organizations
CSW Commercial Sex Worker
CVD Cardio Vascular Disease
DHIS District Health Information System
DHS Demographic and Health Survey
DHU District Health Unit
DOTS Directly Observed Treatment Scheme / Short Course
DPAF Development Partner Assessment Framework
EAC East African Community
EDPRS Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy
EMR Electronic Medical Records
EMTCT Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission
FBO Faith Based Organization
FP Family Planning
GAVI Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization
GBS General Budget Support (=DBS)
GBV Gender Based Violence
GFATM Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (=GF)
GoR Government of Rwanda
GP General Practitioner
H&A Harmonization and Alignment
HC Health Centre
HF Health Facilities
HF Health Financing
HFU Health Financing Unit
HH Household
HIV Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus
HMIS Health Management Information System

Rwanda HSSP 4 VI
HP Health Post
HRH Human Resources for Health
HRTT Human Resource Tracking Tool
HSASB Health Sector Annual Statistical Booklet
HSSP Health Sector Strategic Plan
HSWG Health Sector Working Group (new name for HSCG)
IEC Information, Education and Communication
IMCI Integrated Management of Child Illnesses (=PCIME)
IRS Indoor Residual Spraying
JANS Joint Assessment of National Strategies
KFH King Faisal Hospital
KfW Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau - KfW Development Bank (SBS partner
of MOH)
LB Life Births
LLIN Long Lasting Impregnated (Bed) Nets
LMIS Logistic Management Information System
MC Male Circumcision
MDA Mass Drug Administration
MDG Millennium Development Goals
MH Mental Health
MIGEPROF Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion
MINALOC Ministry of Local Administration, Community Development and Social
Affairs
MINECOFIN Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning
MINEDUC Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Research
MOH Ministry of Health
MMR Maternal Mortality Ratio (/100,000 births)
MTR Mid Term Review
NA Not Available
NCD Non-Communicable Diseases
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
NRH National Reference / Referral Hospital
NRL National Reference Laboratory
NTD Neglected Tropical Diseases
NISR National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda
NST National Strategy for Transformation
OOP Out of Pocket (expenditure)
PAC Post Abortion Care
PBF Performance Based Financing
PFM Public Financial Management
PH Provincial Hospital
PHAST Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation
PHC Primary Health Care
PHCS Pre Hospital Care Services (ambulance etc) (= SAMU)
PHF Private Health Facilities
PLWHA People Living With HIV and AIDS (see PVVIH)

Rwanda HSSP 4 VII

PMI Presidential Malaria Initiative
PMTCT Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (of HIV)
PNC Post Natal Care
PPCP Public Private Community Partnership
PPP Public Private Partnership
PS Private Sector
PW Pregnant Women
PWD People with Disabilities
QA Quality Assurance
QC Quality Control
RBC Rwanda Biomedical Centre
RCHC Rwanda Centre for Health Communication
RDHS Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (= DHS)
RDT Rapid Diagnostic Tests (for Malaria)
RH Reproductive Health
RMNCAH Reproductive Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health
SAMU Service d’Aide Médicale d’Urgence / Pre-hospital care services (= PHCS)
SARA Service Availability and Readiness Assessment
SBA Skilled Birth Attendant
SBS Sector Budget Support
SGBV Sexual and Gender Based Violence
SMM Senior Management Meeting
SOP Standard Operating Procedures
SPIU Single Project Implementation Unit
SSB Rwanda Social Security Board
STH Soil Transmitted Helminths
STI Sexually Transmission Infections
SWAp Sector Wide Approach
TB Tuberculosis
TBD To Be Determined
TCAM Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine
TWG Technical Working Group
UN United Nations
UNFPA United Nations Population Fund
USAID United States Agency for International Development
USD US Dollars
VCT Voluntary Counseling and Testing
WHO World Health Organization
WISN Workload Indicators for Staffing Needs

Conversion Rates (August 2017):

1 USD = 841 RWF (or 100 RWF = 0.118 USD)

1 Euro = 995 RWF (or 100 RWF = 0.100 Euro)

(Source: ‘XE Currency Converter’, date Monday 14 August 2017)

Rwanda HSSP 4 VIII

FOREWORD

The Rwanda Health Sector Strategic Plan 2018-2024 (HSSP IV) is the guiding document
outlining national strategic directions to improve health standards of Rwandans over the
next seven years. Its content reflects a comprehensive analysis of the Rwanda’s health sector
progress and situation to date. It is also based on rigorous technical inputs from key health
sector stakeholders, including program managers in the Rwanda Health Sector and in other
public institutions, Development Partners, as well as members of the Private Sector and Civil
Society Organizations. Several consultations that were organized with all these stakeholders
allowed to design appropriate and evidence-based strategic interventions that will
contribute to ensuring high standards of living for all Rwandans.

HSSP IV builds on lessons learnt and important progress that were made from the
implementation of Rwanda Health Sector Strategic Plan 2013-2018 (HSSP III) and is fully
aligned with the Rwanda Vision 2050 and the National Strategy for Transformation 2018-
2019. It has been informed by global and regional development agendas Rwanda has
committed to, especially the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The development of
HSSP IV also considered the overall objective of the Rwanda Health Sector Policy and lays
down priority areas that will be key to ensuring universal access to equitable and affordable
quality health services.

All strategic interventions highlighted in HSSP IV were guided by three values and guiding
principles that orient and underlie the provision of health services: people-centred services,
integrated services and sustainable services. They have also been grouped into three big
areas: the essential services across the life course, the coverage of essential health
interventions and health systems strengthening.

For the implementation of HSSP 4 to be successful, combined efforts from different

stakeholders will be needed. I call upon all stakeholders from both Government and non-
state actors involved to also align their interventions to the new HSSP IV in order to achieve
our target and provide the Rwandan population with high health standards.

Rwanda HSSP 4 IX
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background
Rwanda’s fourth health sector strategic plan (HSSP4) is meant to provide the health sector
with a Strategic Plan that will highlight its commitments and priorities for the coming 6
years. It will be fully integrated in the overall economic development plan of the
Government. HSSP4 will fulfil the country’s commitment expressed in the national
constitution, National Strategy for Transformation (NST) and the aspirations of the Health
Sector Policy 2015. The strategies herein adhere to the Universal Health Coverage (UHC)
principles towards realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). HSSP4
therefore lays a foundation for Vision 2050 (“The Rwanda We Want”), which will transform
Rwanda into a high-income country by 2050. HSSP4 anticipates the epidemiological
transition of the country, the increase in population and life expectancy and the expected
increase of the health needs of the elderly, notably in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
HSSP4 also anticipates a decrease in external financial inflows, hence it is imperative to build
secure / resilient health systems.

HSSP4 was developed through a consultative process involving all stakeholders.

Consultations with actors at national and district levels, interviews with key informants and
review of relevant documents (annex 5), informed the development of priorities and
strategies. HSSP4 takes into consideration the significant results achieved during HSSP3,
specifically improvements in impact and outcome indicators and in the country’s health
systems. Achievements are largely attributed to the bold and decisive leadership and strong
implementation of laid-out strategies and policies. However, the sector acknowledges that
sustaining these gains, tackling outstanding challenges, addressing indicators with slow
progress, laying a foundation for Vision 2050 and embracing the ambitious UHC agenda
requires commitment, innovation and strong management by all actors to ensure the
implementation of results and attainment of the ambitious targets.

Objectives and priorities

The Overall Objective of the health sector is to ensure universal accessibility (in geographical
and financial terms) of equitable and affordable quality health services (preventative,
curative, rehabilitative and promotional services) for all Rwandans (Chapter 3). This will be
attained through four Strategic Objectives with respective focus on:
1. Full implementation of the various programs (improve demand, access, coverage and
quality)
2. Strengthening the various health system components (strengthen policies, resources
and management)
3. Strengthening all levels of service delivery (organise the services effectively at all levels)
4. Ensuring effective governance of the sector (strengthen decentralization, partnership,
coordination, aid effectiveness and financial management)

In furtherance of the Health Sector Policy aspirations, realisation of country, regional and
global commitments, HSSP4 identifies priorities in four broad result areas: (i) increasing
coverage of interventions along the life course; (ii) scaling-up coverage of essential services
to combat communicable and non-communicable diseases; (iii) strengthening support

Rwanda HSSP 4 X
systems and (iv) building health security and resilient systems (chapter 7). Under the overall
stewardship of the Ministry of Health (MOH) (see chart in Annex 1), implementation of the
HSSP4 agenda will be through oversight structures at ministerial level; management
structures at the national and district level; and service delivery structures at the national,
intermediary and peripheral levels. Strong partnerships, community engagement and multi-
sectoral collaboration will be core pillars in the synergistic implementation of HSSP4, given
the ambitious UHC agenda and broader interventions enshrined in the SDGs.

Interventions
HSSP4 will continue to ensure that all persons in Rwanda have access to equitable and
quality Maternal, Neonatal, Child & Community Health (MCCH) services (chapter 5);
immunisation coverage will be consistently maintained around 95% (or more) with the
Government meeting at least 30% of the full cost of vaccines; stunting will be reversed by
improved inter-sectoral collaboration; uptake of long-term methods in FP services will be
increased by targeted promotion activities; palliative services and health needs of the elderly
are mainstreamed in the essential package of care at the different levels, including the
package at household level.

In tackling communicable and non-communicable diseases (chapter 6), emphasis will be to

reduce prevalence and incidence in morbidity / mortality through expanded, responsive and
client centred services; improved diagnostic capacity; control of risk factors and scaling up
preventive efforts related to life-style interventions (nutrition, sugar, exercise, alcohol,
smoking). In health security, HSSP4 seeks to ensure that Rwanda is free of epidemic-prone
diseases and public health threats through building a sustainable, effective and efficient
national surveillance, response and recovery system.

Investment in Health Systems Strengthening (Chapter 9) will guarantee improved health

outcomes, ensuring financial risk protection to the Rwanda people. Strengthening the health
workforce will entail ensuring availability of sufficient, competent, motivated and equitably
distributed health workforce, capable of addressing the challenges and consequences of the
epidemiological transition. Infrastructure and equipment will detail and enforce adherence
to norms and standards to support service delivery. Sustainable access to effective, safe
medicines and medical products will be ensured and a strong service delivery system will
guarantee access to quality services in line with population needs and the package of care
(Annex 6). Effective leadership, management and governance will be ensured at all levels.
Acknowledging the need for a strong evidence-base to inform responsive decision-making,
as well as commitments to regional and global reporting, appropriate investments will be
made to strengthen the health information and national health research systems.

Innovations
The attainment of a middle-class status as envisaged in Vision 2050, the likely increase in the
cost of providing care as a result of the epidemiological transition and increased life
expectancy, together, will impact on the financing demands of the country’s health system
and subsequently on attainment of the HSSP4 objectives. In this regard, innovative
approaches to build a sustainable, equitable and efficient health financing system reliant on

Rwanda HSSP 4 XI
resources have been identified. For each of the Strategic Objectives, some of these
innovations have been summarised below:
• In MCCH, MOH will encourage women to attend early ANC, scale up post-partum FP
information; expand social marketing of modern contraceptives and condom availability,
harmonize and expand RMNCH mentorship program and start locally produced
therapeutic packages and food supplementation
• In Health Systems, the SDG indicators are now part of the overall sector performance
table; low-dose high-frequency training will be initiated; collaboration with the private
sector will be reinforced and innovative financing (health bonds) will be promoted;
finally, interoperability of the various information systems at national level and dash-
boards at district level will be reinforced and expanded.
• In Service Delivery, the number of functioning Health Posts will be increased and e-
health initiatives such as Telemedicine and EMR will be expanded nation-wide.
All these innovations will need more detail to effective implementation in the upcoming
annual plans of the sector. They all are chosen with the intention to reduce future costs and
ensure sustainability of the overall performance of the sector.

Costs of HSSP4 implementation

The cost of implementing HSSP4 has been computed using the One Health tool (Chapter 11).
The entire plan is projected to cost RWF 4,290,170.71 million (4.29 trillions) for the 7 years.
At the end of the period, the mean per capita cost would be 44,826.92 RWF or 60 USD per
capita, up from RWF 27,415.22 per capita in 2018 or 36 USD per capita during HSSP3. This
estimate will increase when more complete cost estimates become available.
The estimates include the drug and supply costs for the prioritized interventions, the health
system costs estimated at 3.82 trillion RWF, the majority of which are the human resource
costs, infrastructure, and drugs and supplies.
It is important to note that the costs by level of service delivery reflect a larger expenditure
at the higher levels of the system, mainly at the national level (for the programs) and
hospital level. This may be due to the prioritization of curative care for NCDs, in addition to
the delivery of preventive activities like immunization and the distribution of ITNs at the HC
level.
A financial sustainability assessment was not possible, as it was not part of the scope of work
and data was unavailable. It is critical given the high cost of the plan to determine the
affordability of the plan and to assess the need for resource mobilization strategies.

Responsibilities and performance monitoring of HSSP4

Implementation, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of HSSP4 are the responsibility of all
stakeholders in the health sector, as highlighted in Annex 4. Each will play different roles and
responsibilities as detailed in the implementation arrangements (chapter 4). Similarly, roles
and responsibilities of the coordination and partnership arrangements have been identified
against the background of endorsed policies.

Implementation of HSSP4 will be monitored through annual operational plans at all levels,
based on the robust existing M&E system (chapter 10). Health system research will provide
relevant and evidence-based information that will then inform policies and responsible
decision-making. The Table with the performance indicators (Table 1) and the Log Frame in

Rwanda HSSP 4 XII

Annex 7 will inform the impact and output indicators of HSSP4. Periodic health sector
performance reviews - quarterly, annual, mid-term (2022) and end-term (2024) - will serve
to inform health policy dialogue, priority setting, resource allocation, timely corrective action
and subsequent planning cycles.

Rwanda HSSP 4 XIII

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Context and background of HSSP4

Rwanda’s fourth HSSP is proposing a paradigm shift, linking it with Rwanda’s National
Constitution and Vision 2050, the Health Sector Policy 2015, NST, Universal Health Coverage
(UHC) principles and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). HSSP4 has been designed
to be responsive to the country’s aspiration to become high-income country with better
quality of life of the population. Article 41 of the Rwandan Constitution amended in 2015
stipulates that health is a Human Right:
“All citizens have rights and duties relating to health. The State has the duty of mobilizing the
population for activities aimed at promoting good health and to assist in the implementation
of these activities. All citizens have the right of equal access to public services in accordance
with their competence and abilities.”

Vision 2050 (“The Rwanda We Want”) will translate this health right into socio-economic
development strategies in the context of transforming Rwanda into a high-income country
by 2050. Through key pillars and crosscutting area, Vision 2050 will be people-centred,
thereby encompassing all age cohorts to achieve its short, medium and long-term strategies.
The health paragraph of Vision 2050 will address the high population growth rate (2.6% per
year), Reproductive Health challenges, the importance of pre-elimination of infectious
diseases (including malaria, Vaccine Preventable Diseases and mother to child transmission
of HIV) and rising prevalence of Non Communicable Diseases. Relevant health indicators
with their baseline (2018), mid-term targets (2020), and final targets (2024) have been
included in Table 1, showing the main sector performance indicators during the HSSP4.

The HSSP4 contributes to the NST, which provides a medium-term framework for achieving
Rwanda’s long-term aspirations, as embodied in Vision 2050, the seven-year GOR program
(7YGP), and the SDGs. NST aims at increasing the quantity and quality of human capital;
increasing capacity to innovate in the economy; accelerating the rate of poverty reduction;
and improving quality of life of Rwandans.

1.2. Purpose of HSSP4

The Overall Objective of the health sector is to ensure universal accessibility (in geographical
and financial terms) of equitable and affordable quality health services (preventative,
curative, rehabilitative and promotional services) for all Rwandans. Results will be
measurable at ‘Impact level’ as presented in the Performance table (Table 1) and the Log
Frame (Annex 7). In the tenure of the prevailing Health Sector Policy 2015, all interventions
are guided by four Strategic Objectives:
Full implementation of the main health programs (improve demand, access and quality)
1. Strengthen the health systems building blocks (strengthen policies, resources and
management)
2. Strengthen all levels of service delivery (organise the services effectively at all levels,
referrals)

Rwanda HSSP 4 1
3. Ensure effective governance of the sector (strengthen decentralization, partnership,
private sector coordination, aid effectiveness, and financial management)

These Strategic Objectives respond to the newly formulated priorities of the sector (chapter
2.2) and include in their implementation many innovations, meant to facilitate the
transformation towards the Overall Objective of HSSP4 and thus to the wider objectives of
the NST.

1.3. Methodology of developing HSSP4

The development of HSSP4 was done through the following process:

MOH Level preparatory meeting was held between the Consulting team and MOH to agree
on the strategies the team had proposed to adopt for accomplishing the mission. The
inception report outlined the timeline, the interviews with the various Key Informants, the
choice of the districts to be visited and the preparation for the national consultative
workshops. The team participated in a Health Sector Working Group meeting, where an
outline of the work was presented and discussed.

Meeting with MINECOFIN: All team members participated in the Joint Health Sector Review
meeting between stakeholders and MINECOFIN, where details about the process and
content of district and sector strategic plan development were shared.

Desk Review: The team conducted analytic desk reviews to examine national and
international literature that informed the HSSP formulation process. Through the various
TWGs, MOH and MINECOFIN availed relevant and recent information to the team, including
relevant district and thematic strategies. Some of the key documents reviewed included the
HSSP III, the Health Sector Policy 2015, Rwanda Vision 2020, the EDPRS 2, and the HSSP III
Mid Term Review final report, MOH Annual Reports, and other sources of information
(Annex 5).

Key Informant Interviews (KIIs): The team undertook KIIs at national, district, and HF levels
to get qualitative information on which strategies work and those that do not. At National
level, KIIs were held with the MOH Leadership and Senior Managers in the Health Sector.

Field visits were conducted in the following districts: Nyanza, Bugesera, Gakenke and
Rubavu. In each district, meetings were conducted with the Vice-Mayor in Charge of Social
Affairs, and members of the District Council. Visits were made to District Hospitals and
District Pharmacies.

Consultative Workshop: Two workshops were held. The first one, a three-day national
consultative workshop was held in Gisenyi-Rubavu District to collect inputs and ideas from
the participating stakeholders to enrich and guide the development of the HSSP4.
The second workshop was held in Kigali to receive comments and additional inputs from
MOH and other stakeholders on the Zero draft of HSSP4 that had been circulated to all
participants a few days earlier. This one-day workshop was held jointly with the team of
consultants, the MOH officials and all stakeholders.

Rwanda HSSP 4 2
Submission of HSSP4 Draft 1: After that second workshop, all relevant feedbacks and
comments provided by the MOH and stakeholders were included and a first draft of HSSP4
was produced and submitted to MOH. After having received comments from MINECOFIN, a
second draft was made that benefitted from a final review by all stakeholders.

Rwanda HSSP 4 3
2. OVERVIEW OF THE HEALTH SECTOR

2.1. Policy context of the health sector

The foundation for the current health services have been laid some 15 years ago with the
drafting of the first HSSP, its review and the subsequent five year plans that became each
time larger, more ambitious and complete, finally culminating in this fourth National
Strategic Plan (HSSP4) that now aims to broaden up further towards all other sectors of
development and initiating a process towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC). An
important feature of the drafting of this HSSP4 is the overall coordinating and steering role
of MINECOFIN and the simultaneous process of developing Strategic Plans not only for all
Ministries but also for all districts in the country through their respective District
Development Plans (DDS).

HSSP4 guides the health sector in Rwanda to directly contribute to the achievement of
health and other development commitments at global, regional and national levels. At the
global level, the HSSP4 supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), particularly SDG 3 to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages,
but also supports others of the 17 total goals directly impacted by a strong health system
with the ultimate objective of reaching Universal Health Coverage (UHC). At the regional
level, HSSP4 will support the Africa Agenda 2063 and EAC Vision 2050.

Nationally, HSSP4 builds upon the existing foundation for the health sector’s contribution
towards the achievement of Vision 2050. The health sector will play a critical role in
producing a healthy and productive population that will drive the Rwandan economy into a
thriving upper-middle income country status by 2035 and to a high-income country by 2050.
These economic transformations will engender significant changes whose implications need
to be addressed now in order to lay a solid foundation for broader socio-economic
development of the country. Some of the challenges that can be expected are:
As the country joins the ranks of upper-middle income countries, development assistance
for health will inevitably reduce significantly or run out altogether.

Secondly, the epidemiological profile will shift from one dominated by communicable
diseases to one where NCDs will be dominant, with concomitant demands on the health
system for tackling such demands; this shift is already underway.

Thirdly, as the country has embraced the SDGs agenda, there is a need to reorganize the
system in order to ensure UHC for needed services for all during each phase of the life-
course, given the anticipated epidemiological shifts and the increase in costs that will be part
of it.

Lastly, the emergent health system will be one that provides security and safety to all
Rwandans by minimizing vulnerability to acute epidemiological events that endanger the
collective health of populations living across geographical regions and different international
boundaries.

Rwanda HSSP 4 4
For Rwanda to confront these challenges and public health threats, the health system must
be resilient – one that is dynamic and adapting to changes where people live, the kinds of
health problems they face and the social and economic factors that make it difficult for them
to access the health services they need. The speed of economic, social, technological and
ecological change in Rwanda will inevitably accelerate in the future as the country inches
towards Vision 2050. The contribution of the health sector to social resilience will also be
increasingly important and the system will need to build its capacity to adapt to change and
withstand population-level shocks.

Inevitably, this implies the need to adapt to changes to the system of health finance and to
changes in the roles of the Government, Private Sector and Citizens. The foundation for
sustainable financing of the health system must be put in place now. The 2015 Health
Financing and Sustainability Policy specified the key objectives that are required to take the
health system in the directions outlined below:
- To increase efficiency for improved quality and service delivery (value for money)
- To strengthen Health Insurances and risk pooling systems
- To enhance strategies and interventions for increasing revenue for health including
the community and private sector to monetize available expertise
- To strengthen the institutional environment for sustainable financing and ensure
accountability in the health sector.

There are still challenges and gaps that need to be looked into and necessary adjustments
need to be made in the design and implementation of each of the above components, such
as the definition of health services benefit package, addressing the current financial status of
CBHI schemes and how to finance subsidised health services.

This HSSP4 is confined to the health sector and outlines strategies that will enable Rwanda
to build a resilient health system that it can afford and which provides the best value for the
money invested. Details are articulated not only in this strategy, but also in the strategies of
other sectors.
Besides the financing foundations outlined here, HSSP4 highlights strategic directions and
innovations in all program and health system areas in order to build a health system that will
provide value for money through implementation of strategies in other system areas, such
as HRH, Infrastructure, Procurement and Supply Chain Management and Information
System.
Whilst the HSSP4 focuses on the health sector, it must be emphasised that its
implementation will call for collaboration with all the other development sectors, since it is
evident that the third SDG (Health) interacts with and interdepends on many of the other
relevant sectors.

2.2. Sector status and Achievements

A: Services: Information from the latest review of the health sector, the Mid Term Review
(MTR, September 2015) showed steady improvements in the performance of the health

Rwanda HSSP 4 5
services. These figures were confirmed in the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS,
2014/2015) and in the MOH Annual Report (July 2015- June 2016).
According to the National Institute for Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), Impact Indicators showed
important improvements: Life Expectancy increased from 55 years (DHS 2010) to 65 years
(DHS 2015), Maternal Mortality Ratio decreased from 476 (DHS 2010) to 210/100,000 live
births (DHS 2015 and Infant Mortality Rate went down from 50 (DHS 2010) to 32/1000 live
births (DHS 2015). Also Neonatal Mortality went down from 27 (DHS 2010) to 20/1000 live
births (DHS 2015).
Most key interventions mentioned in the third Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP3) were
implemented and thus contributed to the reduction of Communicable (CDs) and Non-
Communicable (NCDs) diseases. These figures provide the baseline from which the targets
for HSSP4 are derived both for its mid-term in 2020 and for the end of HSSP4 in 2024 (Table
1).

The Outcome/Output indicators in the MTR 2015 showed similar improvements in services
like Nutrition (Prevalence rate of Stunting down from 44 % to 38%); Maternal Health (%
Births attended in health facilities from 69% to 91%); Birth control and Family Planning (CPR
up from 31% to 42%); HIV/AIDS and TB Control (TB Treatment Success Rate up from 87% to
90%). One serious drawback over the last years was the upsurge of Malaria cases that
started in the end of 2012 and continues till today. Experts attribute this upsurge to several
factors occurring not only in Rwanda, but also wider in the sub-region, such as vector density
and resistance, climate change (increase in temperature and rainfall), human behaviour and
non-universal coverage of effective interventions, despite a sustained and intensive effort by
the Government (in door spraying, distribution bed-nets, fast testing and treatment).

The MTR team concluded that “the Rwanda health sector has achieved all MDG targets due
to high commitment of the leadership and consistent implementation of its strategies and
policies. But that the sector is now at a cross-roads, as it is facing the challenge to sustain the
current level of service provision, while responding to: (i) the significant reduction in external
financing; (ii) the change from mainly infectious diseases in the younger age-groups towards
increasing numbers of non-communicable diseases often in older age groups; (Iii) the
increase in more costly secondary/ tertiary care facilities / equipment and (iv) disparity in
lifestyle related morbidity and mortality patterns between urban/rural populations.

B. Systems: With regard to the performance of the various components of the health
system, these have been instrumental in reaching the MDGs and achieving the HSSP3
objectives. For the HSSP4, these systems need to continue venturing innovations to face the
new challenges of the sector. Below, the most important contributions of the system
components to the achievements are summarised:

HRH: The sector has attained several HSSP3 targets pertaining to health professionals’
/population ratio, expansion of health professional training, instituted retention strategies
and established a mandatory continuous professional development program for health
professionals.
Outstanding challenges remain the gaps in skills mix; a high staff turnover and limited career
development opportunities for health professionals at different levels of the health sector.

Rwanda HSSP 4 6
Leadership and Governance: At the national level, the strong government leadership and
the restructuring of the HSWG and TWGs have improved policy dialogue and enabled
effective coordination of health sector development. At the district level, DHUs have been
established in all districts to coordinate the decentralized health system. Outstanding
challenges include limited capacity of DHUs in ensuring effective coordination and
monitoring of the decentralized health services. Although health professional councils are
functional, the limited capacities, coordination and synergy in the regulation of the clinical
practice has compromised the quality of health care services. The private sector has a lot to
offer in the attainment of UHC, but there is need to increase its engagement with the public
sector.

Medical Products and Health Technologies: Quality control of pharmaceutical products, the
storage capacity and availability of essential commodities as well as rational use of
medicines have greatly improved. Outstanding challenges include weak pharmaco-vigilance
system and limited capacity of supply chain management at different levels. Innovations
undertaken earlier have borne results, for example the introduction of drone technology has
enabled quick blood distribution.

Health Financing: The country has attained the Abuja declaration of allocating 15% of the
government budget allocated to health, and established a functional and affordable health
insurance system for households. Coverage of health insurance currently stands at 83.6% of
the population for CBHI (as of June 2017) and at 90% if all health insurance schemes are
included. The introduction of performance based financing (PBF) has yielded efficiency gains
for the health system. Outstanding challenges include the important external financing of
the sector, which is not sustainable. The insufficient contribution of CBHI members
compared to the increasing of health care cost, the limited contribution by the private sector
to health insurance, as well as fluctuations in CBHI membership threaten the sustainability of
the community financing schemes;

Service Delivery: A well-established network of health facilities with good geographical

coverage exists with an adequate fleet of ambulances for the pre-hospital and emergencies
services. Health care packages have been defined for each level (annex 6); accreditation
standards developed, disseminated and implemented; and quality assurance teams
established in each health facility. Future efforts need to address further expansion of the
health infrastructure to sectors without health centres or cells without Health Posts;
improving IT infrastructure in health facilities; provision of specialized services at secondary
and tertiary levels; strengthening emergency and pre-hospital services.

Health Information Systems and Research: The HMIS collects all routine data from health
facilities. Programmatic quarterly coordination meetings with the heads of health facilities
have been institutionalised and are held regularly. A National Health Research Agenda has
been developed to ensure alignment of all research efforts to the sector priorities. Future
efforts should address improving data management and use at all levels; improving reporting
rate from private health facilities; linking and ensuring interoperability of all information
systems as well as strengthening the health research systems for evidence based policy and
decision making.

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Vision 2020 is remaining with just 3 years of implementation, while EDPRS 2 is entering its
final 5th year. Similarly, HSSP3 will last for just one more year till June 2018. The HSSP 4
priorities for HSSP4 responded to the unfinished business of these two strategic plans while
at the same time looking forward to each of its four strategic objectives (chapter 3.2) that
address (i) the implementation of the services, programs and essential interventions; (ii)
strengthen the various systems; (iii) strengthen all levels of service delivery and (iv) ensure
effective governance. The numbers in the table refer to the chapters where they are
presented in more detail.

2.3. Institutional overview of the health sector

The Rwandan health sector is a pyramidal structure and consists of three levels: the central
level, the intermediary level, and the peripheral level (annex 1).

The Central Level (see organization chart in annex 1)

The central level comprises (i) Ministry of Health (MOH), (ii) Rwanda Biomedical Center
(RBC) and the (iii) national referral and teaching hospitals.
• The responsibility of the MOH at central level is to formulate policies and strategies,
ensure monitoring and evaluation, facilitate capacity building and mobilization of
resources. The central level organizes and coordinates the intermediary and peripheral
levels of the health system and provides them with administrative, technical and
logistical support.
• The RBC’s mission is to provide quality affordable and sustainable health care services to
the population through innovative and evidence based interventions and practices,
guided by ethics and professionalism. The core functions of the RBC include
coordination and improvement of biomedical research activities, coordination of various
activities geared towards the fight against communicable and non-communicable
diseases, provide high level technical expertise in the health realm, ensure availability of
medicines and medical supplies at all times in health facilities, and establish strategic
relations with regional and international institutions, so as to achieve the strategic health
goals.
• The mission of the national referral and teaching hospitals is to provide tertiary care to
the population. These include King Faisal Hospital (KFH), Rwanda Military Hospital, Kigali
University Hospital (CHUK), Butare University Hospital (CHUB) and Ndera Hospital for
mental health and psychiatric care. King Faisal hospital was created to provide a higher
level of technical expertise than that available in the national referral hospitals to both
the private and public sector and to reduce the number of patients being referred
abroad for complex medical interventions.

The Intermediary Level

To decrease the pressure of demand for services in the national referral hospitals, 3 district
hospitals were upgraded to referral hospital level (Ruhengeri, Kibuye and Kibungo hospitals)
and four other district hospital were upgraded to provincial hospital level (Rwamagana,
Bushenge, Ruhango and Kinihira) in order to form an intermediary level of referral hospitals.
In addition, there are private practices operating in most of these cities.

The Peripheral Level: DHs, HCs and HPs (see map of health facilities in annex 2)

Rwanda HSSP 4 8
The peripheral level is represented by the health district and consists of an administrative
office (DHU), a district hospital (DH), and a network of health centers and health posts (HCs /
HPs). As part of the decentralized structure of the GOR, the District Health Unit (DHU) is an
administrative unit in charge of coordination of the provision of health services (including
the private sector) and responsible for planning, monitoring and supervision of the
decentralized implementing agencies. The DHU is part of the DHMT and reports to the Vice-
Mayor in charge of social affairs.

The functions of the DHU include organization and coordination of health services in the
Health Facilities (DH, HCs, HPs) and the Community. Health facilities deliver the approved
healthcare packages (annex 6), provide administration, manage logistics supplies and
supervise Community Health Workers (CHWs).

Generally, the service package at a district hospital (DH) includes inpatient / outpatient
services, surgery, laboratory services, gynecology-obstetrics, radiology, mental health, dental
and eye services. The HCs provide preventive services, primary health care, in-patient care,
referrals, and basic maternity services, while the HPs provide services such as immunization,
family planning, growth monitoring, and antenatal care.

At the village level, Community Health Workers (CHWs) provide prevention, promotion and
some curative health services. Community health services are integrated into the community
development services and administrative structures. There are 499 HCs spread-out all over
the country (Annex 2).

Table 1. Existing administrative structures and related health facilities

S. No Administrative level/ Number HSS Structures Number

structures
1. Villages / Imidugudu 14,837 CHW 45,516
2. Cells / Akagari 2,148 Health Posts 476
3. Sectors / Imirenge 416 Health Centers 499
4. Districts/Uturere 30 District Hospitals 36
District Pharmacies 30
5. Provinces (including the 5 Provincial Hospitals 4
City of Kigali)
6. National National Referral and 8
Teaching Hospitals
7. Referral systems Ambulances / SAMU 225
8. Registered Private HFs 250
Source: HMIS 2016-2017.

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3. STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK

3.1. Vision, mission and objectives of HSSP4

Vision of the country:

To become an upper-middle income country in 2035 and a high income country in 2050

Vision of the Health Sector:

The Health Sector Policy (January 2015) states the overall vision of the health sector as
follows: To pursue an integrated and community-driven development process through the
provision of equitable, accessible and quality health care services.

Mission of the health sector:

The Rwanda Health Sector mission is to provide and continually improve affordable
promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health care services of the highest quality,
thereby contributing to the reduction of poverty and enhancing the general well-being of the
population.

3.2. Overall and Strategic Objectives

The Overall Objective (OO) of the health sector is to ensure universal accessibility (in
geographical and financial terms) of equitable and affordable quality health services
(preventative, curative, rehabilitative and promotional services) for all Rwandans. Results
will be measurable at ‘Impact level’ as presented in the Performance table (Table 1) and the
Log Frame (Annex 7)

This Overall Objective will be attained through four Strategic Objectives (SO):
1. Full implementation of the main health programs (improve demand, access and quality)
2. Strengthen the health systems building blocks (strengthen policies, resources and
management)
3. Strengthen all levels of service delivery (organise the services effectively at all levels,
referrals)
4. Ensure effective governance of the sector (strengthen decentralization, partnership,
private sector coordination, aid effectiveness, and financial management)

These four Strategic Objectives respond to the priority areas that were approved by the
Ministry of Health and that have been presented earlier in chapter 2.2 and in Table 3.
Results will be visible at the ‘Outcome level’ and have been detailed below in section 3.5. as
part of the Result Chain. A full Log Frame for HSSP4 has been included in Annex 7. The level
of outputs is reflected in the Log Frame but is considered the responsibility of the program
managers to populate.

Rwanda HSSP 4 10
 3.3. Contribution of HSSP4 to Vision 2050, SDGs and NST
3.3.1. New priorities and Innovations

Whilst the sector takes note of significant progress in a number of areas, it acknowledges
that further progress to meet set targets, as well as addressing areas that are lagging behind,
will call for innovation at all levels.

Improving health across the life course (from utero to the elderly) will encompass ensuring
better pregnancy outcomes through several interventions. Early attendance of ANC
(introducing urine testing, sensitization…) with increase in the number and quality of ANC
visits. Training modalities will be refined from heavily loaded sessions to low-dose high
frequency training in Basic Emergency Obstetric and New-born Care at health centre level
and Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and New-born Care at hospital level, to improve
uptake of skills. Maternal, Neonatal and Child Death will be monitored and actions taken
through a strengthened Surveillance and Response system, replacing the current Deaths
Audits. The pre-service training curriculum will be revised to capture maternal, neonatal,
child and adolescent sexual and reproductive health. The package of health services to be
delivered at the different levels will be revised to include services for the elderly.

Uptake of Family Planning services has not registered significant increases in the previous
years. In addressing this, integration of Family Planning in antenatal and post-natal care and
expansion of social marketing for condoms, emergency and long-lasting contraceptives to
improve availability and reduce the high unmet need of the last five years! Further research
will be undertaken to understand factors that hinder FP uptake.

Special attention will be paid to address stunting through a focus on Early Childhood
Development (ECD) as an entry point in delivering health interventions; inter-sectoral
activities from national to the village; introduction of locally produced age-specific packages
and regular food supplementation/education to the families of malnourished children.
Micronutrients will be provided to pregnant women. On the other hand, overweight and
obesity among children and adults, as an important risk factor for NCD will be regularly
monitored and preventive activities will be expanded.

Social media platforms will be employed to improve uptake of health interventions. Among
these, reaching the youth about sexual and reproductive health, information on prevention
and management of NCDs and data collection for selected indicators will figure prominently.

The private sector will be engaged to support health systems development and expand
specialised care and service provision such as: local production of medicines and medical
products; increasing availability of medical products through social marketing; building of
Health Posts, malaria control through environmental measures; health financing and support
ICT for health information systems.

Rwanda HSSP 4 11
In planning the future Workforce, attention should be given to the introduction of a
retention strategy for CHWs and health professionals (doctors, nurses, midwives,
paramedical staff) in order to reduce the attrition rate. Further to this, keeping in pace with
the epidemiological profile indicating a rise in the non-communicable diseases and the
projected increase in life expectancy, investing in the management of the most common
infectious and NCD at the district level will offer efficiency savings. The need for palliative
care will increase for chronic conditions and in addressing this, home-based care
practitioners will be trained to minimise the health facility-based care. Efficiency savings
during in-service training will include more use of E-learning platforms, integration of related
training modules and use of mentoring approaches.

In Infrastructure & maintenance special attention is needed to the further for the timely
planning of effective implementation, expansion of reliable maintenance systems that
emphasizes preventive maintenance, and the definition of strict criteria for building new
HFs (esp. at national and provincial levels).

Electricity and Kerosene costs will be reduced through a switch to solar driven cold-chain
equipment. Use of moto-ambulances will be explored to improve referral especially in
remote and hard to reach areas. Finally, together with the private sector and the
community, construction of Health Posts will be expanded to all cells to provide proper and
adequate care as close to the village as possible.

In the area of Health Products and Commodities, the role of the District Pharmacies will be
formalised, while work with the private sector will initiate drug production inside the
country. The support to the laboratories and imaging technologies will be explored.

The service delivery systems have been well established in the previous years. Care must be
taken not to erode the peripheral and community levels as the increased demand for
specialised services tend to attract more attention (and resources). The expansion of Health
Posts seems therefore a necessary priority in the coming years. Additional innovation will
include improving efficiency in service delivery through use of tele-medicine to offer
consultancy services; improving management of emergencies and trauma at hospital level,
establishment of mental health services at community level (also including psychologists)
and expansion of the clinical outreach program in peripheral health facilities.

In addition to this, the regulation of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine

(TCAM) will be strengthened in order to mitigate any malpractice and threat to public
health. MOH in collaboration with national and international stakeholders is developing a
regulatory framework, which will define the spectrum, scope, entry requirements and code
of conduct of TCAM practices.

As stated earlier, Leadership and Governance have been strong and ready to take decisions
where and when needed. This bold and daring attitude should prevail in the coming years.

The important Health Financing system is discussed in some detail below as part of the need
to prepare for the foundation of a sustainable financing system as part of the HSSP4.

Rwanda HSSP 4 12
 Finally, the HMIS and M&E systems increasing move towards interoperability of the various
information systems not only within the sector but also with the other development sectors
in order to strengthen jointly monitoring of sector performance and progress towards the
SDGs. Accountability especially at the district level will be strengthened through use of dash
boards as a quick information source to inform decision making and inclusion of selected
indicators in the contracts of district level administrators.

Table 2. Priorities by Services, Programs and Health Systems

Chapter 4.1. HEALTH SERVICES AND PROGRAMS ACROSS THE LIFE CYCLE
4.1.1. MCCH • Improve and sustain quality of MCH services/Focus on decreasing
(Pregnancy, Early Life maternal and neonatal mortality
and Children) • Increase ANC and Postnatal care uptake
• Improve community mobilization to increase facility delivery
Nutrition • Community education and awareness on dietary and complementary
feeding practices
• Establishment and using ECD as an entry point of provision health
interventions (specifically nutrition)
• Prevention and management of malnutrition (acute and chronic)
• Improve multi-sectoral collaboration
Community Health • Support the Capacity Building of CHWs
• Ensure the sustainability of CHW Program
• Ensure the availability of commodities and materials for the program
ASRH & GBV • Integrated education on SRH (target groups: Young and Adolescents)
• Scaling up management of GBV cases at health center
• Support the social reintegration of the GBV cases
Family Planning • Improve access / quality to FP services with a focus on long term
methods
• Scale up post-partum FP education and provision
• Coordination of stakeholders on FP uptake awareness
Chapter 4.2. COVERAGE OF ESSENTIAL HEALTH INTERVENTIONS
4.2.1. Infectious • Sustain universal access to HIV testing and treatment
Diseases • Improve prevention and management of blood borne diseases
• Ensure the effective prevention and efficient management of malaria
cases and other parasitic diseases
• Ensure early detection and effective treatment of TB and other
respiratory & lung diseases
4.2.2. NCDs and • Ensure early detection of NCDs
Injuries • Increase access to specialized NCDs treatment
• Reduce premature death
• Ensure prevention and management of unintentional injuries
Mental Health • Increase Mental Health Services Coverage
• Ensure access to specialized mental health services and other services
to people living with disabilities
4.2.3. Health • Ensure BCC for better health promotion and prevention
Promotion • Educate population on Hygiene and sanitation
Environmental Health • Improve Health care waste management within the Health Facilities;

Rwanda HSSP 4 13
 • Improve WASH services within the community- and public places
• Ensure Food Safety and Hygiene in Food Establishments
• Ensure Water Quality within the Community;
• Ensure Community Health Clubs are functional country-wide
• Improve Household sanitation and hygiene practices
5. Health Security • Ensure the implementation of International Health Regulation (IHR)
(Epidemic Surveillance and Global Health Security (Detect, Prevent, and Respond to the
and Response) epidemic emergencies
• Strengthen laboratory capacity for detection and diagnosis of
outbreaks & emerging infectious diseases
Chapter 8. HEALTH SYSTEMS AS INPUTS & ACTIONS TO THE SECTOR
8.1. Health • Improve quantity and quality of HRH to respond to health needs
Workforce (HRH) • Strengthen HRH management at central and decentralized level (focus
on retention strategies)
8.3. Medical Products • Development of pharmaceutical industry plants for production of
and Commodities medical products, devices and commodities and also research (clinical
trial & drugs development) on emerging superbugs
• Ensure and sustain the availability of essential medicines (vital and
non-vital), vaccines and blood components
• Reinforce food and medicines regulations
8.4. Service Delivery • Ensure geographical and financial access to health care services
and Quality • Establish and institutionalize quality improvement (accreditation)
improvements mechanism/framework
• Ensure access to safe surgical care in HFs at secondary and tertiary
levels
• Strengthen the management of health care technology
• Ensure availability of IT infrastructure to improve health services
delivery
• Support and sustain the cost of care for constant improvement of the
health system (ex. access to quality treatment of cancer, kidney, CVD,
drug addiction & abuse etc.)
• Improve the pre-hospital and emergency services
• Strengthen the Regulation of Traditional, Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (TCAM)
8.5. Leadership and • Reinforce the compliance with policies, laws and regulations
Governance • Strengthen the role of coordination with the private sector and other
key stakeholders in the health sector
• Strengthen management of decentralized health systems by district
leaders and HF managers
• Improve the coordination of health professional bodies for efficiency
(e.g. Establish an umbrella)
8.6. Health • Synchronize all HIS systems together and link them with EMR to
Information Systems improve patient management and data use for decision making
• Promote new health care technologies to improve quality of health
services (E-health initiatives)
8.7. Health Financing • Ensure financial sustainability of Health sector (increase budget,
optimization, efficiency, collaboration with the private sector and

Rwanda HSSP 4 14
 PPP..)
• Promote new innovative financing mechanisms for high impact
interventions and emerging diseases
• Ensure periodic revision of health insurance package
Note: The sequence of priorities in this Table follows the respective chapters in HSSP4.

3.3.2. Contribution to the thematic areas and priorities of the SDGs

The contribution of the health sector towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
can be seen in the following 10 of 17 goals:

• Poverty Reduction (SDG 1): The health sector will collaborate with other sectors to
implement social protection systems for all, including expanding coverage (removing
financial barriers in accessing health services & elimination of catastrophic expenditures
on health) with a focus on vulnerable groups, in addition to the enhancement of
promotive and preventive health interventions, reducing the risk of
contracting/developing communicable and non-communicable diseases.
• Adequate Nutrition (SDG 2): As investments by the GOR to improve food security,
consumption and production, the health sector will commit itself to supporting adequate
nutrition of children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating mothers and vulnerable groups
by 2030.
• Education (SDG 4): The health sector will also collaborate with other sectors to ensure
access to early childhood development services, childcare and in the review of curricula
in educational institutions to include health promotion (of pre-primary, primary,
secondary and tertiary levels).
• Gender Equality (SDG 5): The health sector focus within this area, in collaboration with
other sectors, will be on the prevention and management of all forms of gender-based
violence, in public and private spheres, including trafficking, sexual and other forms of
exploitation and eliminate gender barriers to receiving essential health services.
• Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6): Through HSSP4, the health sector will advocate for
interventions to achieve universal access to safe water and sanitation for the reduction
of water, sanitation or hygiene related diseases and for response-preparedness to
ensure availability of clean water during environmental emergencies and/or disasters.
• Economic Growth (SDG 8): The health sector will collaborate with other sectors to target
the promotion of healthy and decent employment as a driver of economic growth and
enforce safety standards in all forms of employment. Additionally, the health sector will
support the development, review and implementation of policies supporting the
following areas; Employment, Creation of Employment, Access to Employment and a
Healthy Work Environment.
• Tackling Inequalities (SDG 10): While improving health and productivity of citizens, the
health sector in collaboration with other sectors will develop interventions and
promotion activities that address social, gender and economic barriers at household
levels to reduce household income disparities and improve social protections for
vulnerable/marginalized individuals with respect to Universal Health Coverage.

Rwanda HSSP 4 15
• Climate change & Environmental Health (SDG 13): The health sector will collaborate in
strengthening protection mechanisms for preservation and conservation in order to
promote environmental health and mitigate adverse effects of climate change on the
population.
• Inclusive Societies (SDG 16): The health sector will collaborate with other sectors to
address violence and injury prevention among children and adults, Gender-Based
Violence and Civil and Vital Registration of important personal and social events (like
birth, death, marriage, divorce).
• Partnership for health (SDG 17): The Health sector will focus on Resource Mobilization,
Capacity Building and Private Sector engagement, mobilizing partners to support
planning, implementation, monitoring and attainment of health related SDGs in the
context of mutual stakeholder responsibilities and accountabilities.

3.3.3. Contribution to thematic areas and priorities of NST

The contribution of the health sector to economic development and poverty reduction can
be viewed from two angles.
• The health sector contributes to ensuring a healthy population that in turn is able to:
stay in school (for the school going), engage in economic production, reduce time lost
due to caring for the sick, reduce catastrophic expenditure as a results of seeking care
when strong pre-payments mechanisms are in place. A healthy population, therefore,
grows the economy and lifts itself out of poverty.
• The health sector is expected to create more jobs and employment opportunities given
the projected increase in the number and complexity of health services, hence, requiring
increase in number and skills of human resources for health. This second approach is
dependent on whether other aspects of the economy are growing at the same or even
faster rate so that the economy is able to accommodate the increased health sector
wage bill and the new staff; or the private sector and middle class is sufficiently
developed to afford payment of health services privately. This second approach is usually
seen in countries that are already middle or high income.
• In the medium term, the health sector will continue to be more of a consumptive sector,
requiring investment because the returns in the form of a healthy population are long-
term. The Health sector requires expansion of the private sector, as well as growth of the
middle class to afford the private services but these are both in the early stages. The
other aspect is investing in highly specialised health services to attract clients from the
region and beyond as a solid foundation for the country’s rise to a future destination for
medical tourism.

3.3.4. NST Cross cutting areas (CCA)

The HSSP IV will mainstream the following cross cutting areas to implement the NST:
Capacity development, environment and climate change, disaster management, Disability
& Social Inclusion, Gender & Family promotion, Regional Integration and International
Positioning. More details on the indicators and policy actions of the HSSP IV aiming at
monitoring the progress towards responding to the above mentioned cross cutting areas can
be found in the logical framework.

Rwanda HSSP 4 16
a. Capacity development
Capacity-building, needs to be considered at the sector strategy level to ensure efforts are
focused on national and sector priorities (Vision 2050 and NST). Achievements and sector
development targets depend on both individuals and institutions having the capacity to
deliver. Better coordination of capacity development is needed to mitigate duplication,
overlaps, wastage of resources, and inefficiency. A good monitoring and evaluation system is
also needed to effectively measure the impact of capacity development investments.

HSSP IV capacity development will focus to improve the quality and increases the quantity of
Human Resource for Health. In pre-service and in-service training of health workers and
community health workers are being particularly targeted, according to needs and this goes
with strengthening of health professional bodies and teaching institutions.

b. Environment and climate change

The Health Sector will collaborate in strengthening the protection mechanisms for
preservation and conservation in order to promote environmental health and mitigate
adverse effects of climate change on the population. The Sector will contribute to
sensitization to reduce the air pollution in households. Promoting access to water, sanitation
and hygiene especially in the health facilities, in the public places and in the communities
will remain important for the NST.

c. Disaster management
The Sector will continue to build the capacity of health workers in disaster prevention,
detection, response and recovery to reduce the risk of outbreaks and diseases.

d. Disability & Social Inclusion

The Sector will continue to facilitate the access to health services for people living with
disabilities by removing any physical and communication barrier in order to promote social
inclusion.

e. Gender & Family Promotion

Mainstreaming of gender equity as a crosscutting area remains a priority goal for the health
sector during the six years to come. Women and men have specific health needs at all stages
of life that are related to both physical differences and their societal roles. A gender
approach is clearly needed for Sexual and Reproductive Health—Family Planning, general
knowledge about reproductive health options and opportunities, men engagement—but
also for other key health programs (Malaria, HIV, SGBV, Nutrition, Mental Health).

Among the key gender issues that affect the health sector, the following are specifically
addressed in the HSSP IV:
• Teenage pregnancy and related risks such as maternal mortality
• Women fertility rate
• Gender disparities with regard to HIV/AIDS
• Nutritional disorders especially among children and women
• Gender-Based Violence

Rwanda HSSP 4 17
f. Regional Integration and International Positioning
The HSSP IV framework will focus on the harmonization of policies documents at EAC and
international levels. The main area to be focused on are as follows:
▪ Ensure the harmonization and regulation of Pharmaceutical, traditional
Complementary and alternative medicine
▪ Integrate disease surveillance and response to prevent propagation of epidemics;
▪ Build the capacity in the health sector by harmonizing medical education to facilitate
mutual recognition and the movement of health professionals throughout the region;
▪ Pursue a common strategy and communication policy for behaviour change in
relation to the adoption of healthy lifestyles for the prevention of communicable and
non-communicable diseases;
▪ HIV: Harmonization of guidelines for HIV prevention, mitigation and treatment for
truck drivers and other mobile workers
▪ Malaria: Implement cross borders initiatives to prevent and control Malaria

3.4. Sector Crosscutting areas to be mainstreamed by other sectors: NCDs and HIV

Strategic direction of NCDs and HIV as Crosscutting Issues

By 2024, to strengthen inter-sectoral collaboration for effective prevention and control of
NCDs and HIV using synergistic multi-sectoral strategies for sustainable improvement of
health outcomes in the population of Rwanda

3.4.1. Key strategies of mainstreaming NCDs and HIV in Sectors

3.4.1.1. Strategies for mainstreaming NCDs in various sectors

a. Education Sector:
- Integrate NCD prevention and control in school curricula at various levels of
education
- Support research to generate evidence for monitoring NCDs, NCDs risk factors
control and NCD policy-making
b. Local Government:
- Integrate check-up of NCDs in the community in the Imihigo of Local leaders
- Sensitize communities / participants on prevention and control of NCD risk
factors during Umuganda, various speeches and other meetings in communities)
c. Environment and Natural Resources:
- Regulate and implement the policy/laws for air/indoor pollution and other
environmental factors related to NCDs
d. Infrastructure Sector:
- Reinforce the implementation of policy of accessibility that promotes physical
activities
- Accelerate the removal of Asbestos from human habitats
e. Agriculture Sector:

Rwanda HSSP 4 18
 - Ensure production of healthy food crops (fruits, vegetables, cereals and other
sources of healthy foods)
f. Justice Sector
- Ensure the enforcement of laws and regulations on control of risk factors of
NCDs (e.g.: Tobacco, alcohol and road traffic control laws and regulations)
g. ICT Sector:
- Support ICT innovations and creativities for health promotion in relation to
NCDs Prevention
h. Trade and industry sector:
- Regulate the trade of processed foods and beverages
i. Finance and Economic planning:
- Allocate special budget for highly specialized care for Cardiac surgery, Cancer
treatment, Kidney transplantation, and NCD diagnoses
- Increase direct taxes and indirect taxations on tobacco and alcoholic
beverages
j. Labour sector
b. Ensure systematic annual screening of NCDs among public and private sector employees
- Promote the safety at work place (mining, industry, construction, etc.)
k. Private Sector:
- Explore actively contribution of the private sector to the country initiative for
prevention and control of NCDs
l. Coordination Framework for NCDs and HIV as Crosscutting Issues
- Set up inter-ministerial or multi-sectoral committee responsible of NCDs
response in the country and chaired by the PM’S Office (the committee will
help to set up a sustainable national coordination mechanism for prevention
and control of NCDs for the country to meet the targets set for the country).
- Set up the national mechanism aimed at streamlining all NCDs interventions
across all relevant sectors.

3.4.1.2. Strategies for mainstreaming HIV in various sectors

a. Ministry of sport and culture
- Organize Sport tournaments for HIV awareness, prevention and control
b. Ministry of Infrastructure
- Promote HIV awareness, prevention and control in road construction sites and
other infrastructure development sites
c. Ministry of Education
- Promote HIV awareness, prevention, control and stigma mitigation in schools
and higher institutions of learning, including Universities
d. Ministry of Youth and MYICT:
- Promote HIV awareness, prevention and control interventions in youth
friendly centers
e. Ministry of Local Government

Rwanda HSSP 4 19
 - Integrate HIV messaging in the speeches of local authorities during meetings,
Umuganda and various community gatherings
f. Ministry of Natural Resources
- Organize HIV awareness, prevention and control sessions in all mining sites
g. Ministry of Public Service and Labour
- Organize regular sessions on HIV awareness, prevention and control
interventions in public institutions
h. Ministry of Agriculture
- To organize HIV trainings among farmers’ cooperative societies
i. Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning
- Increase budget allocated to HIV Prevention programs
j. Ministry of Justice
- Include an article in the penal code on any kind of discrimination due to HIV
k. Coordination Framework for NCDs and HIV as Crosscutting Issues
- Set up inter-ministerial or multi-sectoral committee responsible of NCDs
response in the country and chaired by the PM’S Office (the committee will
help to set up a sustainable national coordination mechanism for prevention
and control of NCDs for the country to meet the targets set for the country).
- Set up the national mechanism aimed at streamlining all NCDs interventions
across all relevant sectors.

3.5. Results Chain of HSSP4.

The expected results of HSSP4 – the result chain - is part of its Overall and Strategic
Objectives as has been detailed in sections 3.1 and 3.2 above. Here the outcomes of the
results chain have been detailed for each of the sector priority areas. These have been
detailed at the outcome and output levels with their respective targets in the Logical
Framework (annex 7).

Table 3. Results chain of HSSP4

The Overall Objective of HSSP 4 is to ensure universal accessibility (in geographical and
financial terms) of equitable and affordable quality health services (preventative, curative,
rehabilitative and promotional services) for all Rwandans
Overall Results of HSSP 4 Outcomes
Increased coverage of maternal and neonatal health services
Improved coverage of child health services
Increased coverage of immunization services
Increased coverage of nutrition services
Full implementation of the
Increase coverage of ASRH services countrywide
main health programs
Increase coverage of FP services countrywide
(improve demand, access
Increase coverage of Geriatric Services
and quality)
Increased coverage of HIV interventions
Increased coverage of viral Hepatitis prevention and control
interventions
Increased coverage of TB/Leprosy interventions
Increased coverage of Malaria interventions
Rwanda HSSP 4 20
 Increased coverage of NTD interventions
Cancer survival rates improved
Increased coverage of NCDs: Heart Disease; Cancers;
Diabetes and chronic obstructive airways disease
interventions
Increased coverage of mental health interventions
Increased coverage of injuries and disability interventions
Strengthen the health All levels providing the relevant package of health services
systems building blocks Functional referral system and pre-hospital services
(strengthen policies, Quality diagnostic services
resources and Hospitals accredited
management)
HRH: Availability of a competent (well-trained and licensed),
motivated and equitably distributed health workforce
Infrastructure: Infrastructure and medical equipment norms
and standards strengthened
Medicines and medical products: Sustainable access to good
Strengthen all levels of
quality and efficacious medicines and medical products.
service delivery (organise
Health information systems and research: Interoperable,
the services effectively at all
responsive and functional information systems providing high
levels, referrals)
quality data in a timely manner to inform planning and
decision making
Research: A strengthened research system providing policy
relevant evidence.
Health financing: A sustainable, equitable and efficient
health financing system reliant on and private resources
Strengthened institutional capacity for leadership and
Ensure effective governance management
of the sector: strengthen Strengthened accountability mechanisms
decentralization, A functional legal and regulatory framework for PP
partnership, private sector partnerships
coordination and Increased decision space to support decentralization
strengthened health Effective community engagement
security A sustainable, effective and efficient national epidemiological
surveillance, response and recovery system
A resilient and responsive health system

Rwanda HSSP 4 21
4. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS

4.1. Sequencing of interventions

Implementation of HSSP4 will be a coordinated effort by the MOH together with the various
stakeholders, other socio-economic sectors, the private sector, development partners,
NGOs, FBOs, civil society organisations and others. Overall coordination will rest with senior
management of the MOH to ensure that all players support the same priorities and the same
interventions. These will be defined by the MOH together with MINECOFIN, MINALOC, and
other relevant ministries on the basis of Vision 2020, NST and HSSP4 priorities.

The overall planning process is guided by the Planning Department of the MOH. Specific
operational planning at program and health system level in the entire health sector is done
annually in line with the annual planning cycle and HSSP 4 priorities. District based planning
will be done annually in bottom-up fashion in line with set financial budget ceilings and the
defined priorities in the HSSP4. The District Health Unit is responsible for the development of
annual district plans by HCs and district hospitals that respond both to the District
Development Strategies (DDS) under the responsibility of the vice-mayor, in charge of social
affairs, as well as responding to the priorities of the HSSP4.

In this complex planning, implementation and monitoring process, the Planning and M&E
Unit in the MOH plays a crucial role of informing the planning and budgeting entities at all
levels on where they are and where they should go, thus providing inputs in the priorities for
the following year. As part of this top-down and bottom-up process several milestones can
be identified that together define annually the sequence of the implementation of the sector
interventions:
• The signing of the performance contracts (Imihigo) with the president or his
representatives at the various levels
• The mutual accountability sessions between MINECOFIN and the various DPs working
in the sector on the basis of the CPAF indicators. 

• The annual planning / budgeting process within the MOH and between MOH and
DHU.
• The various (external) reviews at the national and district levels, most of which are
taking place annually, but for some programs more frequently. 

• The strategic plans of all programs (such as RMNCAH, HIV, Malaria, TB, NCDs, Mental
Health, Environmental Health, Community Health Desk, etc.) will align their priorities
and interventions to HSSP4 and develop their annual plans on the basis of the log
frame and HSSP4.
• Institutions in charge of managing and allocating resources (such as HRH,
infrastructure and equipment, medical products) and ensuring quality of service
provision (QA, Clinical Services) will coordinate regularly with the programs that are
implementing the respective services.
Finally, regular meetings between MOH and DPs through the HSWG and the various TWGs
provide all stakeholders with the opportunity to raise policy-related issues and give technical
inputs on the achievements and challenges met during implementation.

Rwanda HSSP 4 22
 4.2. Stakeholders: Roles and Responsibilities

4.2.1. Roles of central versus local government

MoH provides the oversight leadership and coordination to ensure that the sector achieves
its stated goals and objectives through its programs and institutions. MOH provides also
technical guidance to the implementation of HSSP 4 at the various levels.

The local government ensures the provision and management of health services including
financial and human resources. It also ensures the coordination, accountability,
implementation and management of health activities at decentralised level in order to
improve service delivery, greater coverage of health services, improved quality, cost
effectiveness and ownership.

4.2.2. Role of the private sector

The private sector is only partially involved in regular consultations with the MOH. HSSP4 will
reinforce this partnership through quarterly coordination meetings, where important issues
of collaboration will be discussed, such as private sector tariffs, regular submission of HMIS
data, inspection and access to private sector facilities, adherence to regulations and quality
assurance norms (accreditation), control of laboratories and selection / opening of new
private HF in districts.

4.2.3. Role of Development Partners (DPs)

DPs give development support to the entire health sector, with emphasis on institutional
capacity development (especially in Policy, Governance and Infrastructure); prevention and
control of infectious diseases (HIV, TB, Malaria, etc.); health security (EPI and IDSR); and
health system strengthening in all the health system building blocks.

At central / policy level, DPs form part of the overarching Health Sector Working Group
(HSWG), which provides oversight on implementation of sector wide approach (SWAp)
health actions in the entire health sector. Implementation of the deliberations of the HSWG
is effected through technical working groups (TWGs). The TWGs facilitate technical dialogue
on policy and operational issues between the main stakeholders (national institutions,
representatives of civil society and DPs) involved in different programmatic areas.

SWAp in the context of NST and HSSP: GOR’s Aid Policy drives all development assistance in
the Rwanda. SWAP (Sector-wide approach) hinges on the NST to ensure that actions in the
health sector have more sustainable impacts by integrating and fundamentally incorporating
them into the national development programs.
The district level equivalent of SWAp is the Joint Action Development Forum (JADF), where
all important development issues are discussed and inter-sectoral collaborative
interventions are designed and monitored. The District Health Unit (DHU) coordinates the
different actors of the health sector. It also clarifies and allocates the tasks of the different

Rwanda HSSP 4 23
actors, and ensures an adequate integration of the multidimensional determinants of the
health status of the population.

4.3. Mechanisms for coordination and information sharing

With stakeholders outside the MOH, the following structures have been established to
ensure the involvement of all parties:

1. Health Sector Working Group (HSWG): At sector level, there is the HSWG, constituted of
representatives of MOH and affiliated institutions, Development Partners (DPs), Private
Sector and civil society. It meets quarterly (sometimes each semester) under the
chairmanship of the Permanent Secretary. The goals of the HSWG are to improve
coordination of activities and harmonization of procedures of both GoR and DPs in order to
increase effectiveness and efficiency of aid in the health sector and to ensure better
alignment of DPs behind the Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP), with an enshrined principle
of mutual accountability (NHP 2015).

2. TWG: Technical Working Groups (TWGs) are operational entities where technical and
policy issues are discussed by staff of the MOH with relevant representatives of
Development Partners, NGOs, FBOs and CSOs working in the concerned area. (Annex 4).
TWG operate under the authority of the HSWG. The objective of the TWG is to support and
advise the MOH in the implementation of sub-sector strategies and policies and develop
relevant guidelines and tools to be used by the implementing agencies.

3. SPIU: The establishment of a Single Project Implementation Unit (SPIU, since March 2011)
aims at reducing the number of separate projects and the administrative burden of the MOH
in managing and reporting on the several projects with off-budget resources.

4. There are several inter-sectoral activities in which MOH is actively involved, such as the
inter-ministerial committee to eliminate all forms of malnutrition; disaster preparedness and
response, school health programs and WASH.

National and International Cooperation: National, regional and international cooperation is

in line with the activities of the health sector strategic plan set out by the Ministry of Health
for implementation of the Health Sector Policy. Multilateral, bilateral and non-
governmental cooperation is founded on the basis of mutual agreement between the
Government and the donor country or organisation. Mechanisms for the joint management
and evaluation of resources to support the functioning of health services are to be
strengthened.

Regional Integration: GOR has adopted an active policy of orienting its various
socioeconomic activities towards the integration of the countries in the East African
Community (EAC). For the health sector, important integration issues are the procurement
of medicines and medical / laboratory equipment, active sharing of information and training
opportunities, health sector management and medical education.

Rwanda HSSP 4 24
WHO and International Health Regulations (IHR): MOH ensured that all regulations and
public health mechanisms align with International Health Regulations (IHR) designed under
the authority of WHO for the following public health issues:
• National legislation, policy and financing
• Coordination, communication and advocacy related to IHR
• Surveillance for early detection, rapid response capacity and preparedness and a
response plan for PH emergencies
• Risk communication to inform the population during public health emergencies 

• Human resources capacity to implement IHR
• Laboratory capacity to test, diagnose and confirm public health threats
• Specific mechanisms to detect and respond to different public health events.
• Points of entry, zoonotic events, food safety, chemical events and radiation
emergencies

4.4. Risks analysis and risk mitigation

Table 4. Risk Identification and Risk Mitigation measures

Overall
Risk Identification Likelihood Consequences Risk mitigation
Risk
1. Service Delivery risks
Accelerate the health
Highly qualified staff (doctors
professionals retention
and nurses) leave the public 3 3 High
strategies in the health
sector
sector
Establish an
independent
Quality of patient care is not
2 3 Medium accreditation body and
fully satisfying
reinforce accreditation
of HF
2. Financial Management risks
Fiscal decentralization Fiscal decentralization is
process is stalled or remains 2 2 Low being implemented by
sector bound (silos) MINECOFIN
3. Decentralization risks
Establishment of
Services at decentralized coordination mechanism
2 3 Medium
levels not fully coordinated at central and
decentralized levels
4. Funding related risks
1. Increase domestic
budget allocations to
the programs heavily
Health sector dependence support by external
3 4 High
on external financing funding
2. Adopt strategies for
attracting private
investors in health &

Rwanda HSSP 4 25
 Improve management of
HF resources
-
Negotiate with donor
Most resources remain off-
agencies (GAVI, GFATM,
budget, H&A remains 2 3 Medium
USAID) on Sector Budget
rhetoric
Support (SBS)

Risk Matrix Calculator

5. ESSENTIAL SERVICES ACROSS THE LIFE COURSE

The Life Course approach: In accordance with the recent WHO report (June 2016) ‘Multi-
sectoral action for a Life Course approach in healthy ageing”, the HSSP4 has adopted an
approach whereby all services will be implemented against the life course of an individual.
This implies that both past and present experiences of the person are shaped by his/her
wider socio-economic and cultural context. Scientifically, this approach studies the physical
and social hazards of life during gestation, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood and
midlife, as these experiences affect disease risk and health outcomes in later (adult) life. In
the HSSP4 it is used to show the importance of the underlying biological, behavioural and
psychosocial processes that operate across the life span of all of us.

According to WHO, RMNCAH interventions should be based on comprehensive quality

health care throughout the life course of the individual from conception onwards with
essential RMNCAH health promotion, prevention and treatment interventions integrated
across continuum of care; and ensuring linkages, referral and counter referral between
community and health facilities.
The overall goal of the RMNCAH Program is to eliminate preventable maternal, neonatal and
child deaths and promote the well-being of women, male, children and adolescents using a
multi-sectoral approach and ensure healthy ageing.

Rwanda HSSP 4 26
For operational reasons, HSSP4 has divided the RMNCAH in three life cycles, each with its
specific interventions, as highlighted below:

5.1. Pregnancy, early life and children

5.1.1. Maternal & Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH)

Overall strategic direction

By 2024, all persons in Rwanda equitably receive quality Maternal, Neonatal and Child
Health services, aligned to the economic development standards of the country.

Table 5. Baseline and targets for RMNCAH

OUTCOME/OUTPUT INDICATORS HSSP 4 BASELINE TARGETS 2020 TARGETS 2024

2016
Outcome indicators
Prevalence of Stunting 38 29.9 19
ANC coverage (4 standards visits ) 44 47 51
% births attended by skilled health staff 91 >90 >90
% new-borns with at least one PNC visit within 19 25 35
the first two days of birth
Modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) 48 54.6 60
Unmet need for Family Planning 19 17 15
Maternal mortality rate 210 168 126
Neo-natal mortality rate 20 18 15.2
Infant mortality rate 32 28 22.5
Under five mortality rate 50 48 35
% Children 12-23 months fully immunized 93 >93 >93
% Exclusive Breastfeeding < 6 months 87% >90% >90%
Teenage pregnancy rate (15-19 years ) 7.3 <7 <7
Source: DHS & HMIS

Strategies:
• Strengthen inter-sectoral collaboration and coordination and harmonize existing policies
to address the social determinants of poor RMNCAH outcomes, and conduct research to
identify major obstacles and the most effective coordination mechanisms.
• Implement and monitor a harmonized, integrated and sustainable package of quality
client and youth-friendly essential RMNCAH promotion, prevention and treatment
interventions, commodities and innovative technologies at hospital, health centre and
community levels and conduct research on the cost-effectiveness of interventions.
• Build capacity of training institutions, managers and health care providers in integrated
RMNCAH care so that health staff at all levels from community upwards are able to
deliver quality, integrated, client and youth-friendly RMNCAH services.
• Strengthen health systems and research towards universal coverage of RMNCAH services
paying attention to the deployment and retention of health staff, financial and
geographical access to services by under-served and vulnerable groups/beneficiaries and
use the HMIS to monitor equity.
• Intensify health promotion efforts to increase community knowledge and skills on
RMNCAH interventions and promote health seeking behaviour.

Rwanda HSSP 4 27
• Strengthen governance systems and accountability (joint planning, budget allocation,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation) of integrated RMNCAH interventions at
central, decentralised and community levels, including with public-private partnerships
and through Imihigo and performance-based contracts.

Innovations:
• Expand the capacity for early detection of pregnancy in the community (urine testing of
pregnant women by CHW), make more attractive the ANC (ultrasound check at HCs,
introduce focused group ANC), and regular assessment / recommendations to improve
quality of ANC at HFs
• Promote cost effective competence based in service training, case management and
mentorship (low dose-high frequency, e-learning) on RMNCAH impact interventions
• Expand both package and coverage for ECD services at the community level as the entry
point of provision of health education/services
• Strengthen use of e-Health to improve quality of RMNCAH services delivery
• Seek to utilize the strengths of the public and private sectors in fostering synergies for
effective, efficient and sustainable service delivery

5.1.2. Expanded Program for Immunization (EPI)

Strategies:
• Increase the domestic budget allocated to the immunisation program
• Maintain high and effective coverage of immunisation services;

Key innovations:
• Diversify energy sources for the cold chain equipment for cost effectiveness purpose
• Integrate the EPI program further in the IMCI interventions

5.1.3. Nutrition

In Rwanda nutrition of children has been tackled through a multi-sector approach since
2013. In 2014 the GOR adopted the National Food and Nutrition Policy that has been
implemented by different sectors.

The Social Cluster Ministries (composed of MINALOC, MOH, MINAGRI, MIGEPROF,

MINEDUC, MYICT and MIDIMAR) through the Early Childhood Program Coordination
coordinates the implementation of nutrition activities from the national to decentralised
levels.

Strategies:
• To improve the coordination of different stakeholders in the nutrition program
• Use community/village based ECD as an entry point for education/provision of health
services
• To ensure the uniformity and effective coverage of nutrition supplements/commodities
and improve one-on-one nutrition counselling to target groups (pregnant women,
adolescents and under five children).

Rwanda HSSP 4 28
• To increase knowledge on good nutrition practices and intensify health promotion /
nutritional counselling for prevention of nutritional related conditions
Key innovations:
• Leverage on ECD program at community level to increase knowledge on good nutrition
practices and provision of MNCH services
• Expand the regular monitoring of nutrition status among children and adults
• To increase the private sector engagement in the production of nutrition and food
commodities

5.1.4. Community Health

Community Health Workers (CHW) play an essential role in service delivery, particularly in
expanding primary health care and ensuring UHC. The Health Sector Policy (2015) and the
evaluation of the Community Health Program (CHP) (2016) indicated that capacity building
of CHWs be strengthened to improve health care services delivery at community level. It is
proposed that a capacity building and an incentivation plan for CHWs be enhanced.

Strategies:
• Define service package and strengthen coordination with other community volunteers
(from different sectors)
• Improve the supply chain for good quality service delivery
• Promote continuous capacity enhancement of CHWs on new knowledge and
technologies.
• Strengthen the management of CHW cooperatives.

Key innovations:
• Strengthen the functionality of social cluster coordination mechanism at village level to
ensure proper implementation of communities’ activities including health ones.

5.2. Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH)

Strategies:
• Increase the demand for ASRH services by increasing the access to services for
Adolescent and youth
• Expand the coverage of ASRH services (e.g increasing youth-friendly centers and corners
in appropriate settings)

Key innovations:
• Promote the use of technology messaging to youth and adolescents
• Strengthen partnership with other public and private sector in the delivery of ASRH
services.

Rwanda HSSP 4 29
5.2.1. Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV)

Strategies:
• Expand the SBGV services at the health centre level
• Increase the laboratory capacities for testing
• Establish an effective monitoring mechanism for the follow up of SGBV victims
(especially in social reintegration)

Key Innovations:
• Increasing awareness by the use of technology for timely SGBV case detection and
reporting.
• Establishment of DNA laboratory

5.2.2. Family Planning (FP)

Strategies:
• To increase the domestic budget for the FP program
• Promote the multi-sectoral and stakeholder’s collaboration to improve the demand and
delivery of FP services
• Encourage male engagement in the use of FP services
• Increase the private sector engagement in the provision of FP services
• Strengthen the use of Post-Partum FP (PPFP) and effectively integrate this into ANC and
maternity and PNC services
• Increase knowledge, counselling skills and Management of side effects of contraceptives
for FP providers.
• Scale up the use Medical Eligibility Criteria Wheel for contraceptive use to enhance
acceptability and use of FP methods

Key innovations:
• Improve system to document and track FP users for better adherence to the program
including PPFP
• Introduce a community peer education system to promote the continuous use of long-
acting and permanent methods of FP services and emergency contraceptives

5.3. Healthy Ageing and Palliative Care

5.3.1. Health and ageing

The Life Course approach aims to maintain good health status and quality of life and to
prevent diseases during adulthood and elderly life. All stages in the life course determine the
health capital the person has acquired and thus contribute to his/her feeling of illness or
well-being. As the life cycle is getting longer, people have the opportunity to be productive
for a longer period of time than ever before, which will extend the period of wealth
accumulation.

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Strategic direction
By 2024, prevention, care, treatment and rehabilitation for NCDs are extended to all health
facilities and the community; doctors, nurses and community health workers are equipped
with capacity to provide appropriate care to the ageing population.

Strategies:
• Strengthen the Implementation of the national NCD policy and strategy targeting the
ageing group.
• Promote community education and awareness on practices to prevent NCD risk factors.

Key innovations:
• Initiate adequate access and appointment system intended to regulate patient streams.
• Ensure rigorous application of evidence-based treatment guidelines used by the health
care providers

5.3.2. Palliative care

According to WHO, Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life of patients and their
families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention
and relief of suffering by means of early identification and treatment of pain or other
physical, psychosocial and spiritual problems.

Strategic direction
By 2024, health care providers are skilled and equipped to appropriately manage terminally
ill patients.

Strategies:
• Enhance capacities for health care providers to deliver palliative care services
• Streamline the supply chain and prescription of palliative care medicines and drugs to
improve access

Key innovations:
• Explore the private sector engagement in the local production of essential palliative care
medicines and drugs
• Establish community group palliative care system for mutual psychosocial support

6. COVERAGE OF ESSENTIAL HEALTH INTERVENTIONS

6.1. Infectious Diseases
6.1.1. HIV/AIDS, STIs and Viral Hepatitis

Strategic direction
By 2024, the prevalence of HIV is maintained at 3% or lower, HIV incidence is reduced to less
than 2/1000 population; and the burden of viral hepatitis is reduced.

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Table 6. Indicators HIV/AIDS & Hepatitis: Baseline and targets

OUTCOMES / OUTPUTS INDICATORS HSSP 4 BASELINE TARGETS 2020 TARGETS 2024

2016

Proportion of persons diagnosed with HIV

infection receiving sustained ART 82.7 85 90%

HIV prevalence among people aged 15-49 years 3 3 3

HIV incidence/1000 population 2.7 2.5 2
Percentage of infants born to HIV + mothers
free from HIV by 18 months 95 >95 >95

Hepatitis B incidence per 100,000 population NA >3 >2

Strategies HIV/AIDS and STIs

• Strengthen the “test and treat all “strategy and expand access and promote utilization of
HIV prevention and treatment services to adolescents, particularly girls
• To reduce the new HIV infections targeting key populations and hot spot areas.
• To reduce the mortality attributed to HIV/AIDS infection
• To reduce stigma and discrimination in HIV/AIDS patients
• To reduce the burden of STIs and other blood borne infections

Viral Hepatitis
• Determine the burden of Viral Hepatitis (prevalence and incidence) in the population
• Scale up prevention, testing and treatment of Viral Hepatitis and improve access
• Increase capacities of HFs and care providers in testing and treatment of Viral Hepatitis
• Improve the surveillance and reporting system for Viral Hepatitis

Key innovations:
• Introduce HIV self-testing and design innovative approaches to target adolescents.
• Engage private sector for local production of ARVs, screening and vaccination against
Viral Hepatitis within existing health care services

6.1.2. Tuberculosis, other respiratory communicable diseases and leprosy

Strategic direction
By 2024, TB Incidence per 100,000 population in Rwanda will be reduced by 45%.

Table 7. Baseline and targets for Tuberculosis

OUTCOMES/ OUTPUTS HSSP 4 BASELINE 2016 TARGETS 2020 TARGETS 2024

TB incidence per 100,000 population 58 45 31.8
TB treatment coverage rate 84 86 88
Treatment success rate (TSR) for all
85% 87% ≥87
forms of TB cases (DS & DR-TB

Rwanda HSSP 4 32
cases)
Proportion of newly diagnosed
19% 13% 10%
leprosy with grade 2 disability
Source: HMIS, WHO TB Report

Strategies
• Improve case detection by conducting active case finding in High risk group and hotspot
• Improve TB diagnosis across the laboratory network and adopting progressively the use
of molecular sensitive test as initial diagnosis test
• Strengthen TB surveillance by adopting use electronic individual record system and data
driven policy
• Ensure access of first and second line anti TB drugs at all levels
• Ensure early detection and effective treatment of leprosy cases
• Strengthen TB/HIV collaboration activities at all levels

Key innovations
• Use of electronic individual recording system to report on TB and leprosy data
• Introduction of connectivity systems within the laboratory networks for the proper
monitoring of laboratory result and ensure early initiation of TB treatment.

6.1.3. Malaria and other parasitic diseases

Strategic direction
By 2024, Malaria incidence has decreased from 308/1,000 to 122/1,000 population and the
mortality due to malaria in health facilities is decreased by 40%.

Table 8. Baseline and targets for Malaria and Other Parasitic Diseases

BASELINE
OUTCOMES/OUTPUTS INDICATORS/ HSSP 4 TARGETS 2020 TARGETS 2024
2016
Proportion HH with at least one LLIN 81 84 85
Malaria incidence per 1,000 population 308 200 122
Malaria proportional mortality rate 5.7 4.5 3
Proportion of children under five years old
80 84 85
who slept under a LLIN the previous night
Prevalence of soil transmitted helminthiasis
45.2% 35% <20%
(STH)
Prevalence of Schistosomiasis (SCH)
1.9 1.0 0.5
(outcome)
Proportion of targeted population who
96* 97 98
received Mass Drugs Administration (MDA)
Source: DHS, MOH Annual Statistical Booklet, MIS and Mapping Report

Strategies
• Improve vector control: Implement IRS in the high burden districts

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• Ensure sustained universal coverage with LLINs: UHC (1 net between 2 people)
• Strengthen intersectoral collaboration for effective malaria prevention and control
interventions
• Establish and strengthen partnerships with the private sector in malaria prevention and
control interventions
• Reinforce the Malaria prevention and control in vulnerable group (under five children
and pregnant women)

Key innovations:
• Engage the Private sector in local production of vector control commodities/materials
(bed net, insecticides for IRS,) and undertake economic activities with environmental
health impact on malaria prevention and control interventions
• Strengthen collaboration with national and international research institutions for
informed decisions on appropriate malaria interventions

6.1.4. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD)

Strategic Direction
By 2024, NTDs are no longer a public health issue in Rwanda.

Strategies
• Increase the domestic budget allocated to NTDs prevention and control interventions
• Ensure community awareness, and proper diagnosis and management of NTDs in health
facilities
• Strengthen multi-sectoral collaboration in NTDs prevention and control interventions
• Strengthen NTDs case surveillance and reporting systems in the region

Innovations
• Advocate for setting up surveillance systems for the prevalent NTDs in the Region

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 6.2. Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) & Injuries
6.2.1. Overall interventions for NCDs, Injuries and disabilities

Strategic direction
By 2024, the incidence of NCDs (cancer, cardio-vascular diseases, eye diseases, chronic lung
diseases and diabetes) and the mortality due to NCD (cancer, HTA and diabetes) and injuries
are reduced. The early identification and treatment of causes of preventable disabilities will
be improved as well.

Table 9. Baseline and targets for overall NCDs

OUTCOMES / OUTPUTS Indicators HSSP 4 BASELINE TARGETS 2020 TARGETS 2024

2016

Percentage of NCD combined high risk 16.4 15 12

factors in the population aged between 15-
64 years
Percentage of reduction of premature NA 50 80
mortality (under 40 years old) due to NCDs
(cancer, HTA and diabetes)
Percentage of reduction of premature NA 50 80
mortality (under 40 years old) due to NCDs
due to road traffic accidents (RTA) as the
leading cause in non-intentional injuries
Teeth and gum diseases morbidity rate at 4% 2.07% 1,84%
health facility level
Cataract Surgical Rate (number of cataract 400 700 1200
surgeries per million population per year)
Eye diseases morbidity rate at health 3 <2 <2
facility level
Source: DHS, Step Study & MOH Annual Statistical Booklet- Vital Statistics

Strategies
• Strengthen the NCD and injuries prevention, diagnostics and management
• Strengthen the prevention and control of eye diseases through enhancement of
community and health facility service delivery towards prevention of blindness and visual
impairment
• Improve the multi-sectoral collaboration in NCD prevention and control
• Increase the awareness about NCDs risk factors and early detection in the community.
• Ensure financial accessibility to NCDs services
• Strengthen private and public sector partnerships in NCDs prevention and control
• Scale up of the Home Based Care Program countrywide
• Strengthen the prevention of hearing loss through safe motherhood and immunization
as well as early identification and treatment of causes of preventable hearing loss.
• Invest in specific rehabilitation services (orthopaedic prostheses, hearing devices etc..)
• Scale up NCDs surveillance and reporting system for better monitoring and evaluation
Rwanda HSSP 4 35
Key innovations:
• Initiate NCDs screening at the workplace
• Introduce NCDs self-screening test (Diabetes, High blood pressure…)
• Conduct massive diagnostics outreach for community NCDs, oral and eye diseases
screening
• Engage private sector in local production of orthopaedic materials and prostheses.

6.2.2. Mental Health

Strategic direction
By 2024, mental health services are available up to the community level as per the defined
service package at each level.

Table 10. Baseline and targets for Mental Health

OUTCOME/OUTPUTS HSSP 4 BASELINE TARGETS 2020 TARGETS

2016 2024
Proportion of new cases treated in health 0.1 0.2 0.6
facilities (HC+DH+PH+RH) for mental disorders

Strategies:
• Set up mental health services interventions in all health centres and community units in
line with expected service standards
• Define mental health package for each level of service delivery
• Strengthen quality of mental health services at all levels
• Scale up case surveillance and reporting systems for better patient’s follow-up and
management
• Expand services for prevention / management of drug addiction and harmful use of
alcohol
• To construct a National Mental Health Care Center to improve the quality of care and
strengthen the referral system

Key innovations:
• Establish community mental health services
• Establishment of standardized mental health units in DH, with mental health nurses and
psychologists
• Use of technology for mental health service delivery

6.3. Health Promotion, Prevention and Environmental health

6.3.1. Health Promotion and Prevention

Strategic direction
By 2024, communities are empowered with strategic information on healthy lifestyles and
adopt evidence based public health measures to improve their lives.

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Table 11. Baseline and targets for Health Promotion and Prevention

OUTPUTS / OUTCOMES HSSP 4 BASELINE 2016 TARGETS 2020 TARGETS 2024

Percentage of Health centres without water 16 0 0
% public Health Facilities (RH,PH,DH and HC) 76 84 100
with effective waste management systems
according to standards

Strategies:
• Strengthen Community Action Cycle systems / Community participation in
Communicable / NCDs and environmental health prevention programs and services
• Improve the coordination of health promotion stakeholders at all levels to increase
ownership and active participation
• Strengthen the M&E framework and reporting of health promotion and prevention
programs at all levels;
• Increase health promotion budget across diseases program budgets

Key innovations:
• Put in place a Community Action Cycle system from district to village level
• Introduce health promotion in pre-service training curriculum

6.3.2. Environmental Health

Strategic direction
By 2024, the prevalence of diarrhoea diseases will be reduced to 9% and the nosocomial
infections reduced by half.

Strategies:
• Implement the Community-Based Environmental Health Promotion Program
• Establish geographic information platform for sharing information between sectors
• Strengthen capacity of environmental health entities from the national to the village
level
• Streamline the implementation of water quality surveillance and water safety Plan, food
safety, and health care waste management and injection safety, school hygiene, indoor
air pollution, disaster management and preparedness, and occupational health;
• Strengthen the surveillance and reporting system for environmental health

Key innovations:
▪ Strengthen multi-sectoral coordination on environmental health related initiatives and
geographic information sharing
▪ Engagement of Private sector in Health Care Waste Management
▪ Develop and scale innovative behavior change and social marketing strategies to
increase hand washing and safely managed sanitation services

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7. ASSURING HEALTH SECURITY

Strategic direction
Prevent and control epidemic diseases and other public health threats in Rwanda through a
sustainable, effective and efficient national epidemiological surveillance, response and
recovery system.

Table 12. Baseline and targets for health security

OUTCOME /OUTPUT INDICATORS HSSP 4 BASELINE 2016 TARGETS 2020 TARGETS 2024
Proportion of outbreaks with a case fatality 80% 100% 100%
rate below recommended thresholds
International Health Regulations (IHR) core NA 6/13 attributes 13/13
capacity index ** attained at attributes
developed level attained at
demonstrated
level level
N.B. **Indicator definition: Percentage of attributes of 13 core capacities that have been
attained at a specific point in time.
- Numerator: Number of attribute attained
- Denominator: Total Number of attributes
The 13 core capacities are: (1) National legislation, policy and financing; (2) Coordination and
National Focal Point communications; (3) Surveillance; (4) Response; (5) Preparedness; (6)
Risk communication; (7) Human resources; (8) Laboratory; (9) Points of entry; (10) Zoonotic
events; (11) Food safety; (12) Chemical events; (13) Radio-nuclear emergencies.

7.1. Outbreak and disaster prevention

Strategies:
• Establish legal and regulatory capacity for emerging and re-emerging public health
threats.
• Upgrade and reinforce the surveillance system for public health threats (AMR, epidemic-
prone diseases, zoonotic, water-borne diseases and other public health concerns)
• Strengthen mechanisms for detection and management of cross boarder health threats
• Provide timely, high quality risk assessments and early warning to inform prevention and
control of public health risks, including those that may constitute a public health
emergency of international concern.
• Establish a public health emergencies risk strategy
• Strengthen community engagement in prevention, detection and response to public
health threats - laboratory diagnostic capacity strengthening with an up-to-date lab
supply of commodities for outbreak investigation and detection of major diseases

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 7.2. Outbreak and disaster detection, response and recovery

Strategies:
• Construction of National reference laboratory to avail strong diagnostic capacity and
ensuring conducive environment to meet expected international standards for provision
of quality diagnostic services and better management of epidemics
• Strengthen IDSR to improve timeliness, completeness and data quality
• Establish mechanisms for continuous risk mapping of public health threats
• Strengthen national workforce capacity to detect and respond to national public health
threats
• Ensure adequate capacity for health emergency response through contingency plans and
simulation exercises.
• Strengthen public health emergency response coordination mechanisms at different
levels
• Strengthen health emergency response teams in all districts
• Develop sustainable plan for recovery following a public health event

Innovations:
• Introduce use of mentoring approaches and E learning platforms in skills enhancements
• Engage health regulatory professional bodies to provide training on response to health
threats
• Accreditation of NRL to ensure avail strong diagnostic capacity to detect outbreak for
emerging and non-emerging diseases of public health significance and cascade capacity
from national level to all district hospital laboratories under accreditation process
• Institute events-based surveillance system to further strengthen epidemic intelligence

8. HEALTH SYSTEMS: OUTPUTS

The following outputs highlight the important interconnection and synergy between the
traditional WHO building blocks that must be achieved to build a robust and cohesive health
system. Further description of each of the systems is detailed in Chapter 8. The specific
achievements and challenges regarding each of these outputs are described earlier in
Chapter 2 (Overview of the health sector).

8.1. System Resilience

It will be the combination of the various health systems together that will ensure the
absorption of the shocks (caused by outbreaks, disaster or events, financial barriers that
directly influence the health system ability to deliver services), whilst at the same time
guaranteeing the continued provision of essential services.

8.2. Responsiveness
Responsiveness to the needs of the population will increase confidence and utilization of
essential services.

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 8.3. Financial risk protection
The UHC target for financial risk protection is to eliminate the incidence of catastrophic
health expenditure and of impoverishment due to out-of-pocket payments (OOP) for health
services by having every Rwandan optimally financially protected through prepayment
mechanisms such as CBHI and any other safety net mechanisms to mitigate the impact of
direct and opportunity costs as financial barriers to accessing health services.

8.4. Equitable access

Equitable access to essential services will reduce barriers that hinder people from accessing
services, specifically for the vulnerable populations. The domains of equitable access to be
addressed include: (i) improving the reach of the health system for people cut off by
geographical barriers (ii) reducing financial barriers to improve financial risk protection
particularly for the vulnerable populations and, (iii) reducing social and cultural barriers
which particularly hinder women and children in some populations. This is critical in ensuring
a better responsive health system.

8.5. Building community demand for health services

Building demand for essential interventions to ensure that individuals, households and
communities are able to utilize available interventions will be a major focus for HSSP4. This
will be through raising awareness at household, individual and community levels regarding
available essential services, and ensuring that healthy behaviours and actions are practiced
routinely.

8.6. Quality of care

Ensuring the highest possible quality during provision of essential health services and
interventions will result in positive clients’ experiences during the process of care, while
reducing the backload of referrals from DH to higher levels and reducing harm to the clients
/ patients. In general, the aim is the provision of the most effective intervention that leads to
the best possible health care outcome at the minimum cost.

Priority investments in this area will include the development and institutionalisation of a
Quality Improvement and Accreditation (Q&A) program; regular response to malpractice and
a continuous accreditation process for public and private health facilities. Results from both
the accreditation assessment, client satisfaction survey as well as findings from Citizen’s
Report card will be taken into consideration to improve quality of care.

Table 13. Baseline and targets for Quality of essential services

OUTPUT Indicators for HSSP 4 BASELINE 2016 TARGETS 2020 TARGETS 2024
Existing of independent accreditation body 0 1 1
% Malpractice cases assessed and responded N/A >95 >95
Number of National referral and teaching 1 3 5
Hospitals accredited
Number of new upgraded referral hospitals 0 2 3

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achieve level three of the national
accreditation process
Number of Provincial Hospitals achieve level 0 2 4
three of the national accreditation process
Number of DH that achieve level two of the 0 15% 50%
national accreditation process
Number of laboratories reaching 5 stars 1 2 5
accreditation
% Private HFs (polyclinics and hospitals) 0 10 % >95 %
enrolled and pursuing level 1 of
accreditation process

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9. HEALTH SYSTEMS: INPUTS & ACTIONS

9.1. Health Workforce (HR)

Strategic direction
By 2024, ensure availability of a qualified, competent and motivated workforce to deliver
quality health services.

Table 14. Baseline and Targets for the Health Workforce

INPUT/PROCESS Indicators HSSP 4 BASELINE TARGETS 2020 TARGETS 2024

2016 (mid-term)
Doctor/pop ratio (GP and Specialists as well) 1/10,055 1/ 9,000 1/7,000
Nurse/pop ratio 1/1,094 1/ 900 1/ 800
Midwife/pop ratio (women aged from 15-49) 1/ 4,064 1/ 3,500 1/ 2,500
Pharmacist /pop ratio 1/ 16,871 1/16,000 1/15,500
Lab Technicians /pop ratio 1/ 10,500 1/ 9,000 1/ 7,500
Doctor attrition rate NA >10% >5%
Source: IPPS & Surveys and Annual Health Statistical Booklet

Strategies:
1. Improve the quality of the health workforce by strengthening a comprehensive, hands-
on pre-service training, regulation of clinical practice and skills enhancement applying in-
service mentorship
2. Increase quantity of the health workforce by advocating for investment in clinical and
health educational opportunities for Rwandans
3. Strengthen HRH management at central and decentralized levels for enhanced
leadership skills, improve retention and reduce health worker’s attrition
Key Innovations

• Introduce a privileging system of GP to perform some interventions beyond the

qualification based on experience.
• Establish protocols for multidisciplinary team management of NCDs (tumor board
meetings at all referral hospitals, breast clinics, cancer clinics, etc.)

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 9.2. Service Delivery including health infrastructure

Strategic Direction
By 2024, ensure accessible, quality and efficient delivery of health services using technology,
towards achieving Universal Health Coverage.

Table 15. Baseline and Targets for Service Delivery including Health Infrastructure

OUTPUT Indicators HSSP 4 Baseline 2016 Targets 2020 Targets 2024

Number of sectors without a health centre 17 8 0
Number of health posts constructed/rehabilitated in a 473 593 623
cell without any other health post
Number of super specialised health facility (to reduce 4 6 8
the abroad referrals and promote medical tourism)
Surgical procedures per 100,000 population 971 1,500 3,000
Perioperative mortality rate (due to surgical 3.1 2.5 2
procedure)
Ratio ground ambulance / population 1/50,000
1/50,505 <1/50,000
Average time to walk to a nearby HF (in minutes) 56.5 50 45
Number of hospitals with functional basic 8 42 50
maintenance system (trained manpower, available
tools and space for operations)
Number of referral hospitals with functional 1 3 4
telemedicine facilities
Percentage of health centres without electricity (not 17.2 0 0
connected to a nearby grid)
Percentage of Health centres with functional internet 36.5 70 100
and local area network connectivity
Source: EICV, HMIS & Annual Health Statistical Booklet

Strategies for service delivery:

• Review and rationalize the health service essential package by level of care (from
Community to Referral Hospital) in view of the epidemiological transition and dual
burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases.
• Strengthen the network of health providers, public as well as private, to ensure
coverage of an integrated package of services for the population, explore possibilities
of the capacity of the private sector to accept all public health insurance schemes,
including CBHI
• Ensure safe transportation of patients to HPs and HC, especially on hard to reach
areas
• Ensure availability and efficient use of ambulance services at health facility level using
high level technologies and communication systems
• Analyse the performance of the pre-hospital and emergency/ambulance services and
the overall referral system from community to national levels

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 • Establish a regional centre of excellence for the pre-hospital and emergencies
services
• Strengthen and scale up urban health strategies to emerging cities using lessons
learnt from Kigali
• Establish and institutionalize quality improvement(accreditation) mechanism/
framework at all levels of care including mentorship programs, technical and
managerial supervision
• Ensure the availability of specialized health services at secondary and tertiary levels
• Ensure safe surgery in health facilities at both secondary and tertiary levels
• Regular update of clinical guidelines and building capacities of health care providers
and interns through collaboration with training institutions and professional
associations
• Regulate the practice of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine
(TCAM) through the provision of legal frameworks for the implementation
• Reinforce medical research capabilities at all levels of health care provision
• Develop an intermediate level between Health Center and District Hospital
(Medicalized Health Center) in order to reduce the waiting time for references and
transfers to upper level, especially for maternal health, urgent surgeries and for
chronic diseases.
• Establish national laboratory to attain the Global Health standards
• Establish Centres of Excellence for super specialized medical services (such as cancer
treatment, cardiology, neurology, Traumatology)

Infrastructures
• Update infrastructure plans and designs, based on the service package to be
delivered at the different levels and to facilitate decentralization of health services
(task shifting)
• Support the districts to expand the construction of HPs in remote Cells (prioritise the
remote and distant areas).
• Develop HF infrastructure standards and implement an infrastructure maintenance
system
• Ensure that all health facilities respond to national health standards
• Strengthen the maintenance of infrastructure in all public health facilities.

Medical Equipment
• Ensure standardization/harmonisation of medical equipment in all public health
facilities.
• Strengthen the maintenance of medical equipment in all public health facilities.
• To collaborate with academic institutions to train highly qualified staff (biomedical
engineers) for the equipment’s maintenance

IT Hardware
• Synchronize all HIS systems together and link them with EMR to improve the
patient management and data use for decision making
• Promote new health care technologies to improve quality of health services (E-
health initiatives)
Rwanda HSSP 4 44
Key innovations
• Outsourcing the maintenance of biomedical equipment
• Promote public-private partnership in the maintenance and replacement of
ambulances in all public health facilities by the private sector
• Promote public-private partnership for greater coverage of specialized diagnostics
and services such as dialysis, MRI, CT scan, etc.
• Expand ICT and e-Health resources and availability of web-based training and
educational opportunities for the health workforce
• Diversified use of varying telemedicine efforts for improved health education,
mentorship and direct clinical practice

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 9.3. Health Products, Medicines and Commodities

Strategic direction
By 2024 quality, affordable and efficacious medicines and medical products are available for
all Rwandans.

Table 16. Baseline and Targets for Health Products

OUTPUT Indicators HSSP 4 BASELINE 2016 TARGETS 2020 TARGETS 2024

% of health products and health technologies 55 80 90
available at the Central Medical Warehouse
% HFs with < 5% of medical products stock-outs 87 >95 >95
Source: MOH Annual report and Annual Health Statistical Booklet

Strategies
• Ensure sustained availability of medical products and health technologies including
essential medicines (vital and non-vital), blood and blood products, vaccines, laboratory
commodities and medical devices.
• Strengthen capacity for medical products quality assurance,
• Build capacity, undertake/promote research on traditional, alternative/complementary
medicines
• Ensure rational use of medicines and other medical products
• Strengthen capacity in supply chain management systems (stores conditions, human
resource, finance, supply systems, supply plans, supply regulations, etc.) and upgrade
Information and technologies tools used
• Strengthen diagnostics and medical technology capacities
• Develop mechanisms to prevent and manage an antimicrobial resistance
• Strengthen accreditation mechanisms and procedures for medical products and health
technologies

Rwanda HSSP 4 46
 9.4. Leadership & Governance

Strategic direction
By 2024, effective leadership and governance (oversight, coordination, organization,
management, regulation and accountability) of the health sector is ensured at all levels
(public and private).
Table 17. Baseline and Targets for Leadership and Governance

OUTPUT/PROCESS Indicators HSSP 4 BASELINE 2016 TARGETS 2020 TARGETS 2024

Citizen level satisfaction rate with services 77.4 80 >85
Existing of an umbrella for all health 0 1 1
professional regulatory bodies
Source: MOH Annual Reports & RGB Governance Score Card

Strategies:
• Strengthen the districts capacities through DHU and community engagement to ensure
improved coordination and accountability, implementation and management of
decentralised health activities.
• Establish an umbrella for the coordination of health professional councils
• Improve the coordination of health sector stakeholders (public, private, NGO’s, CSO, DPs
and FBO’s).
• Strengthen mechanisms to ensure vertical and horizontal accountability across all levels
of health system
• Strengthen the overall management of health facilities (finance, HR, logistics, assets)
• Regularly update legal frameworks, roles and responsibilities regarding central,
decentralized health services and community health programs

Rwanda HSSP 4 47
 9.5. Health Information Systems (HIS) and Research

Strategic direction
By 2024, ensure availability of interoperable, responsive and functional information systems
providing high quality data in a timely manner to inform planning and decision-making.
Ensure availability of a robust research system providing policy relevant evidence.

Table 18. Baseline and targets for Health Information Systems (HIS)

OUTPUT/ PROCESS Indicators HSSP 4 BASELINE 2016 TARGETS 2020 TARGETS 2024
Percentage of causes of deaths are NA 100% 100%
reported according to ICD10
Percentage of births registered according to NA 100 100
the CRVS
Percentage of public health facilities (DH,PH 4% 43% 72%
and RH) using EMR full package system
Percentage of private HF (dispensaries, 54% 100% 100%
clinics, polyclinics and hospitals) regularly
reporting through national data collection
systems (DHIS-2 and e-IDSR)
Source: MOH Annual report & Annual Health Statistical Booklet

9.5.1. Health Information Systems

Strategies
• Develop and enforce policies for personal data access and protection.
• Strengthen the use and scale up of different information systems including CRVS to
improve data quality, timeliness and completeness.
• Strengthen and scale up of the verbal autopsies program to determine cause and report
deaths in the community.
• Extend the deployment of EMR full package system in all public hospitals for better
patient management
• Synchronize all HIS systems together and link them with EMR to improve the patient
management and data-use for decision making.
• Build capacity for population based surveys and health facility assessments

Innovations:
• E-IDSR with automated outbreak alerts built on the DHIS-2 platform
• Use of connected medical devices for monitoring NCDs
• Creation of interoperability profiles between resource systems

Rwanda HSSP 4 48
9.5.2. Research

Strategic Direction
By 2024, research will guide new interventions, evidence-based policies and strategies by
using existing data sources and improving the quality of research outputs.

Strategies
• Strengthen health research regulations
• Build capacity for research in the health sector
• Promote the culture of research at different levels of the health system
• Strengthen collaboration with international research institutions
• Enhance coordination and collaboration among academic /research institutions and
policy makers in implementation of the National Health Research Agenda
• Promote seminars and scientific conferences involving academics, policy and
implementation people in dissemination of research findings on health

Innovations
• Establish a common basket fund for operational research in health facilities
• Promote clinical trials and drugs development researches

9.6. Health Financing

Strategic direction
By 2024 Rwanda will ensure a sustainable, equitable and efficient health financing system
through adequate resources mobilization.

Table 19. Baseline and targets of health financing

OUTCOMES /PROCESS Indicators BASELINE 2016 TARGETS 2020 TARGETS 2024

% Household expenditure on health as NA <25 <10
a share of total household income
Proportion of population covered by a 90 >95% >95%
health insurance
Source: EICV, HRTT Report & Annual Statistical Booklet

The following health financing strategies and interventions will be implemented in HSSP4.

Strategies
• Intensify resource mobilization in order to ensure sustainability of the Rwanda health
financing system
• Strengthen the current PBF Accreditation to improve quality of care in health facilities
• Promote the Rwanda Treasury and “health bond’ as an innovative financing to attract
social and philanthropic investment and thus unlocking additional funding for the health
sector

Rwanda HSSP 4 49
• Ensure resource mobilisation and efficiency in the management of health facilities
resources by improving cost recovery and cost saving plans for health products, including
blood products;
• Establishment of revenue generating projects across the health system Promotion of
Public Private and Community Partnerships (PPCP).
• Further consolidate the pre-payment and risk pooling arrangements
• Improve the efficiency of existing health services purchasing mechanisms

Rwanda HSSP 4 50
10. MONITORING AND EVALUATION HSSP 4

Strategic direction
By 2024, there is an efficient monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system that (i) provides
timely and high quality evidence regarding the implementation of HSSP 4 and (ii) informs
planning, policy dialogue, allows continuous learning, knowledge management and resource
allocation at both national and subnational levels.

Assessing the progress and performance of the HSSP4 will be undertaken through a country
led Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) platform with strengthened structures and
coordination mechanisms; a selected set of key performance indicators with defined
baselines and targets; strengthened information systems; strengthened capacity for data
collection, management and analysis and; well-articulated mechanisms for review and
action. A unified Data Observatory will guide accessibility to and compatibility with the
different data sources as well as linkages with programs or systems that have different M&E
systems.

The four main components of an M&E platform to be strengthened include:

10.1. Policy and Institutional Environment

• Overall coordination of M&E in the sector is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health
• All stakeholders will be involved in M&E for the HSSP4
• An M&E plan addressing the objectives of the HSSP4 will be used to monitor the
implementation of HSSP 4;
• The M&E logical framework and the performance table (Table 1) detail the selected key
indicators to be monitored. These have been selected taking into consideration the SDG
commitments, country priorities as well as regional reporting obligations. Additional
indicators to be monitored (at national and district levels) are shown in the log-frame.
These mainly relate to input/process and outputs that can provide inferences regarding
the attainment of targets at outcome and impact level. Programs will have additional
indicators in their respective M&E plans to inform detailed program performance.
• Quantitative indicators will be supplemented by qualitative assessments to offer
explanatory information regarding observed performance.

10.2. Rwanda National Health Observatory

A single integrated and inter-operable system will be established to coordinate and link the
different data sources together. In fulfilling this:
• A meta data-dictionary will be updated to establish clear definitions and ensure all data
sources are aware of the required information and how it needs to be generated
• Standard operating procedures (SOPS) to guide data management and sharing at all
levels will be updated and / or revised.
• Linkages with the related Ministries for data stored/managed outside of the Ministry of
Health will be built to enable reporting on all indicators

Rwanda HSSP 4 51
• The National health observatory will be strengthened to serve as a one-stop-shop and
open access platform for storage (repository), analysis and synthesis and dissemination
of health data and information.
• The National data warehouse will be strengthened to serve as the health data repository,
and will be linked to the government-wide data observatory held by the institute of
statistics (NISR).
• The knowledge management platform will be strengthened to enable effective sharing of
research initiatives and results.

10.3. Institutional Capacity for Data Collection, Management, Analysis and Use
• The research system and the different information sources will be strengthened to
provide policy relevant evidence and good quality data in a timely manner.
• Capacity will be built at the different levels for analysis and synthesis of data, efficiency
and equity analysis, and economic evaluations to inform value-for-money decisions.
• Efforts to improve data demand and information use will entail a review of dissemination
mechanisms, away from traditional approaches to what is referred to as “effective
dissemination” to stimulate dialogue and actions based on evidence. In this regard
innovative approaches will be employed, such as: audience tailored dissemination, use of
policy briefs, production of statistical bulletins, engaging the media to disseminate
evidence and evidence sharing at community level through existing community
structures including data producers. In addition, capacity in evidence-based planning will
be built at all levels.

10.4. Country mechanisms for review and action.

• Regular and participatory sector performance assessments will be undertaken at the
national and district level. These will involve a review of reports and experiences to
inform corrective action. Bi-annual reviews will be undertaken with the former informing
implementation adjustments to improve service delivery and the latter informing the
subsequent planning cycle and resource allocation.
• Evaluation of the HSSP4 will be undertaken at mid-term (2021) and end-term (2024) to
assess attainment of set objectives and targets. The mid-term will assess progress
towards achievement of results and generate lessons learned, while the end-term will
inform development of the subsequent strategic plan.
• Programs and districts specific reviews will be undertaken prior to the sector review to
ensure that these feed into the overall health sector performance assessment.
• Use of dash-boards, to provide ‘performance at a glance’, and alert/inform targeted
stakeholders will be institutionalized to promote accountability and stimulate action.

Rwanda HSSP 4 52
11. COSTS AND FINANCING

11.1. Costing methodology and assumptions

The Rwanda HSSP4 costs estimation was facilitated by the UN One Health tool, a unified
costing tool that estimates the cost of health services and system inputs required to achieve
desired health outcomes and impacts. Further details on the tool are provided in Annex XX.

The scope of the costing exercise included:

• Estimating all costs related to delivering the package of health interventions identified in
the HSSP4 for the period 2018 to 2024. These included:
• The costs of the intervention services prioritized in the strategic plan by each level of
service delivery. This was costed using the Delivery channel in the health services
module of the One Health tool. This implies that ideally, all programmes are costed at
each delivery level. This allows the estimation of the resources needs and inputs
required by delivery level. The delivery channels specified for this strategic plan were:
Community, health Post, Health Centre, Hospital and National Programmes and
where possible results are presented as such.
• The costs of the health system inputs including Human resources, infrastructure,
information systems, financing systems etc. that will need to be strengthened to
deliver the expanded range and coverage of services above. These were costed using
the health system module of the One Health tool.
• The program support activities such as training, community mobilization etc. that are
required to increase the uptake of services as well. These were estimated for every
programme as well as health system input.
The health programs / services costed include: Reproductive Health Maternal New-born and
Child Health; Immunization; Malaria; TB; HIV/AIDS; Nutrition; Environmental Health and
WASH; Non-communicable diseases; Health Promotion, Mental Health and Global Health
Security.
Costs related to health system investments include: Human Resource, Infrastructure,
Governance, Health Information System, and Logistics.

The scope of the costing did not include:

• A scenario assessment in which different scale up plans can be costed to assess the most
efficient option.
• An impact analysis to assess the effect of the planned interventions on the goals of UHC.
• An estimation of the financial sustainability of the plan given the projected cost
estimates and projected commitments by all sources of financing in Rwanda.
Despite the fact that these are critical studies that should aid planning, implementation and
resource mobilization strategies, they could not be undertaken as there were limitations in
the timely availability of the necessary data.

Rwanda HSSP 4 53
Process
The Rwanda HSSP4 costing exercise is the result of a consultative and iterative process of
data collection, targets setting and quality assurance to ensure alignment with Rwanda
Government’s strategy and accuracy of estimates. It was conducted in four phases:
(i) Calibration of the tool to specific needs of Rwanda: This included validating the
population projections in DemProj and FamPlan as well as entering Health system
baseline data specific to the country such as the types and numbers of health
workers and health infrastructure. The calibration of the One Health tool and
configuration were conducted by the Rwanda Biomedical Centre Staff with
support from Future’s institute. Staffs previously trained on the One Health
costing tool were available to work with the costing team.
(ii) During a one-day validation meeting for the HSSPIV, the costing methodology and
tool were presented to the Ministry of Health and stakeholders. The meeting
sought consensus on the tool to be used and highlighted the process of costing
including the data needs and the data collection process.
(iii) Meetings for data collection: Technical focal persons for programmes as well as for
specific health system pillars in the Ministry were consulted. They each provided
the input for the activities that were costed as above;
(iv) Data cleaning and entry into the tool was done by the two external facilitators.
(v) The quantity of services required was estimated using the target populations,
population in need and the coverage rate (baseline and targeted) for each
intervention prioritized. They also include the input data for the costs for
program support.

Costing assumptions
It is also important to note that the HSSP cost estimate was projected using the 2017
population of 12,088,744 as baseline and currency exchange rate of Rwanda Franc 756 to
the United States dollar (US$). Inflation was assumed at 5.0% from 2017 and remained
constant throughout the planning horizon. Likewise, baseline data on the Rwanda Health
system was obtained from the HMIS, while coverage estimates for health service were
obtained both from HMIS and opinions of key program experts.

Deliverables: the products of this assessment include:

• The Projection files of the One Health Tool for the plan. These files contain the aggregate
computation of the costs estimates (intervention services, health systems and program
support).
They have the input data of the interventions by service delivery level. These are defined
as community level, health post level, health centre level, hospital level and national
programme levels.
• In addition, a Microsoft Excel document is included. This is called “Intervention Coverage
for the HSSP4. It is an extract from the One Health Tool of coverage rates and drugs and
supply costs of the health interventions costed. It does not include the health system
costs. It also has the program support costs that were aggregated for all the programs
and units in the Ministry of Health.
• A separate excel sheet that has a summary of the programme support costs for MNCH
(ARH, Maternal, Child health, Immunization, Community Health), Health System inputs
like Health financing, HMIS, Human Resources for Health, Leadership and Governance

Rwanda HSSP 4 54
 and Health Products, Global Health Security, Environmental Health and Health
promotion. It is critical to note that some programmes included in the plan were not
costed owing to lack of data.

The prioritization exercise enabled the development of a robust, concise yet feasible HSSP4
within reasonable anticipated resource envelope: this is the HSSP4 costing. The policy
direction informing the prioritization focussed on the need to address health system gaps
such as the required investments in infrastructure and human resources identified during
the development of the HSSP4 as health services are scaled up. In addition, the plan focused
on increasing efficiency and equity by emphasizing primary health care.

11.2. Overall costs per capita for the HSSP4 (in RWF)

The entire plan is projected to cost RWF 4,290,170.71 million (4.29 trillions) for the 7 years.
At the end of the period, the mean per capita cost would be 44,826.92 RWF or 60 USD per
capita, up from RWF 27,415.22 per capita in 2018 or 36 USD per capita.

Table 20. Total cost for HSSP4 in RWF (millions)

Level of
Care 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Total
Community 21,092.24 22,663.17 24,276.75 26,313.44 35,091.79 34,797.20 37,065.18 201,299.76
Health post 2,161.10 2,970.61 3,568.40 4,274.96 5,102.98 6,056.14 7,145.62 31,279.81
Health 49,025.75 80,308.88 70,514.78 102,895.55 91,059.77 129,298.00 116,732.41 639,835.14
center
Hospital 49,729.60 54,804.40 61,490.84 68,204.01 74,292.50 81,063.41 87,893.61 477,478.36
National 53,742.38 60,009.57 60,684.50 66,396.84 66,015.66 79,994.73 70,442.44 457,286.13
Program
Health 164,410.06 497,405.06 379,615.24 390,654.55 439,590.63 291,407.13 319,908.83 2,482,991.51
System
costs
Grand Total 340,161.14 718,161.68 600,150.51 658,739.34 711,153.32 622,616.61 639,188.10 4,290,170.71
Total cost 27,415.22 56,443.76 46,037.36 49,360.32 52,090.69 44,610.04 44,826.92
per capita

The results above show that greatest expenditure is expected to occur at the highest levels of the
health system rather than at the lower levels (community and health posts combined). Drivers of this
may include the high costs of medications and interventions for managing chronic illness at hospital
and health centre levels and the lower costs of prevention. In addition, some prevention activities
such as immunization and ITN distribution are planned to take place at the health centre level. This
may also contribute to the high costs.
The costs of the plan are likely to increase dramatically in the second year of implementation (almost
double) before they start declining. This increase in costs is driven by the mass distribution of ITNs in
2018 and 2022.

Rwanda HSSP 4 55
 11.2.1. Program Support Costs for HSSP4 (in million RWF)

Table 21. Summary costs for program support in RWF (millions)

Item 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Total

Program- 753.49 8.41 8.83 9.27 9.73 10.22 10.73 810.68
Specific HR
Training 9,264.45 10,824.14 12,150.92 11,239.28 14,594.64 12,352.62 12,758.98 83,185.04
Supervision 937.50 1,246.62 1,322.54 1,400.45 1,471.97 1,563.75 1,641.93 9,584.77
Monitoring 1,404.01 1,954.06 1,806.27 1,809.77 2,379.19 1,949.72 2,016.67 13,319.69
and
Evaluation
Infrastructure 1,354.79 9,851.90 4,787.84 9,794.40 4,777.59 12,399.85 6,443.32 49,409.69
and
Equipment
Transport 734.48 0.00 702.88 0.00 774.93 0.00 854.36 3,066.65
Communicati 14,273.60 11,276.38 13,860.31 14,647.60 13,146.25 21,783.99 14,403.47 103,391.59
on Media &
Outreach
Advocacy 714.39 762.04 820.14 882.68 949.98 1,022.42 1,073.54 6,225.18
General 5,141.96 3,728.00 3,892.07 4,092.81 4,291.11 4,505.72 4,774.27 30,425.93
Program
Mgmt
TB Specific 1,959.56 2,057.53 2,160.41 2,268.43 2,381.85 2,500.94 2,625.99 15,954.72
Other 17,787.90 18,570.72 19,456.04 20,572.90 23,957.82 22,643.82 23,866.78 146,855.98
Total 54,326.13 60,279.80 60,968.24 66,717.59 68,735.06 80,733.05 70,470.05 462,229.92

The table above highlights the anticipated costs by program support activity. These are the costs that
the sector will implement to improve the quality, coverage and uptake of health services by the
population. The cost drivers in the table include the aggregate costs scaling-up the uptake of
interventions for each program such as HIV/AIDS, TB, NCDs at all levels. These are marked “other” in
the table. They increase from 17.87 billion in 2018 to 23.86 billion in 2024. These are followed by the
costs of communication, media and advocacy. Lastly, the third highest costs are the costs of training
of health workers for improved service delivery. These include mainly in service training costs which
increase from RWF 9.2 billion in 2013 to RWF 12.76 billion in 2018. Other than this, the remaining
costs represent the non-input costs of strengthening the health system such as training and program
management.
The costs are expected to rise by 20% from RWF 54.3 billion in the first year to almost RWF 70.4
trillion in the 2024. In total 462 billion is required throughout the strategic period on support
activities for achieving the increased service coverage.

11.2.2. Program Costs for HSSP4 by level (in million RWF)

The Table below shows the costs of the programs by level of care. The table shows that the biggest
driver is the costs of the National Programs accounting for 90% of the program costs. The National
Programs will cost RWF 137 billion at the end of the strategic period (2024). The driver for the high
program costs is the cost of Immunization (vaccine preventable diseases) program which accounts
for about 50% of the costs of the national programs.

Rwanda HSSP 4 56
Table 22. Summary costs of all programs by level (million RWF, excluding HS inputs)
Summary costs 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Total
with drugs
disaggregated by
program
area/delivery
channel
Community
Maternal and 20.60 21.63 22.72 23.85 25.04 26.30 27.61 167.75
child health
improvement
Nutrition 0.00 0.00 0.00 16.73 2,406.58 0.00 0.00 2,423.31
Total Community 20.60 21.63 22.72 40.58 2,431.62 26.30 27.61 2,591.06
Health Center
Health promotion 563.15 248.59 261.02 280.16 287.78 712.02 - 2,352.73
Palliative care - - - - - - - -
Total Health 563.15 248.59 261.02 280.16 287.78 712.02 - 2,352.73
Center
National Programs
Maternal And 535.94 4,346.42 4,156.93 3,647.63 4,009.84 5,390.30 5,653.60 27,740.65
Child Health
Improvement
Malaria And 183.58 192.76 202.40 212.52 223.14 234.30 246.01 1,494.71
Other Parasitic
Diseases
TB 2,590.46 3,023.33 5,072.82 5,696.58 3,762.91 5,955.79 3,543.71 29,645.59
HIV/AIDS 425.48 431.29 434.66 456.39 479.21 503.17 528.33 3,258.52
Hygiene And 906.42 3,490.70 2,852.87 3,005.74 3,167.31 3,354.52 3,571.26 20,348.82
Environmental
Health
Vaccine 6,949.07 1,493.50 2,007.88 1,841.45 2,691.45 7,144.99 2,681.08 24,809.42
Preventable
Diseases
Nutrition 6,225.51 6,379.40 6,856.63 7,033.29 7,559.44 7,754.21 8,334.28 50,142.77
Non- 1,359.91 1,041.01 1,219.94 1,144.54 1,326.65 1,246.11 1,462.63 8,800.80
Communicable
Diseases
Mental Health 744.00 781.20 820.26 861.27 904.34 949.55 997.03 6,057.64
Family Planning 8,236.17 8,610.98 9,267.57 9,974.22 10,734.76 11,553.28 12,130.95 70,507.94
And Reproductive
Health
Epidemic 2,553.26 1,994.57 1,431.49 1,585.24 2,022.07 1,747.73 1,739.99 13,074.35
Infections
Diseases
Blood Transfusion 750.93 677.08 720.93 871.95 800.20 840.21 1,009.39 5,670.68
Quality Assurance 17,273.22 18,138.64 18,981.15 19,930.21 20,995.71 22,045.50 23,147.77 140,512.20
And Accreditation

Adolescent Health 210.17 619.62 502.45 512.02 551.06 591.91 621.50 3,608.73
Community 4,798.24 8,789.08 6,156.54 9,623.79 6,787.58 10,683.18 4,774.91 51,613.31
Health
Total National 53,742.38 60,009.57 60,684.50 66,396.84 66,015.66 79,994.73 70,442.44 457,286.13
Programs
Grand Total 54,326.13 60,279.80 60,968.24 66,717.59 68,735.06 80,733.05 70,470.05 462,229.92
Program Costs By
Level

Rwanda HSSP 4 57
11.2.3. Cost of Health System Strengthening (HSS, in Million RWF)

The table below shows the cost estimates of the different aspects of the health system. As can be
seen, the costs of infrastructure, drugs and supplies as well as the human resources are the main cost
drivers, accounting for more than 70% of the estimated costs.

Table 23. Summary of cost for health systems strengthening (RWF/excluding drugs)

Input category 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Total
Health system Costs
Human Resources 0
Staff salaries and benefits 101,521 109,497 117,998 127,104 135,621 142,402 149,523 883,667
Total in-service training 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
costs
Pre-service Training Costs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Human Resources 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Administration
Total Human Resources 101,521 109,497 117,998 127,104 135,621 142,402 149,523 883,667
Infrastructure
Construction Costs 12,840 133,534 87,799 90,183 0 0 0 324,356
Equipment, furniture and 15,299 36,943 60,164 67,248 56,371 30,489 31,307 297,821
vehicles
Rehabilitation Costs 8,999 195,117 73,792 75,017 212,795 81,428 100,237 747,386
Maintenance and 11,775 12,364 16,197 20,382 24,932 26,313 27,628 139,592
Operating Cost
Infrastructure 108 113 15,111 27 29 30 32 15,450
Administration
Total Infrastructure 49,022 378,071 253,063 252,857 294,127 138,260 159,205 1,524,605
Logistics
Total warehouse costs 2,314 169 178 187 196 206 216 3,466
Total vehicle costs 104 12 0 0 0 0 0 116
Total worker costs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Third party logistics 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
contracts
Logistics Administration 1,403 781 792 861 873 949 962 6,621
Total Logistics 3,821 963 970 1,048 1,069 1,155 1,179 10,203
Medicines, commodities,
and supplies
Medicines, commodities 121,425 160,477 159,567 201,367 202,828 250,476 248,809 1,344,949
and supplies (user
defined in Logistics)
Safety stock purchases 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wastage 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total Medicines, 121,425 160,477 159,567 201,367 202,828 250,476 248,809 1,344,949
commodities, and
supplies
Health Financing
Direct costs 2,957 3,104 3,260 3,423 3,594 3,773 3,962 24,073

Rwanda HSSP 4 58
Program management 681 942 444 335 314 238 42 2,995
costs
Total Health Financing 3,637 4,047 3,703 3,758 3,908 4,011 4,004 27,068
Health Information
Systems
HIS dimension costs 4,640 2,890 1,715 3,424 2,153 2,541 2,597 19,960
Functional domain costs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Program management 125 131 137 144 151 159 167 1,015
costs
Total Health Information 4,764 3,021 1,852 3,568 2,305 2,700 2,764 20,974
Systems
Governance
Governance activities 1,457 1,646 1,860 2,102 2,374 2,683 3,031 15,153
Administrative Costs 188 161 169 217 186 195 205 1,321
Total Governance 1,645 1,807 2,029 2,319 2,560 2,878 3,236 16,474
Grand Total 285,835 657,882 539,182 592,022 642,418 541,884 568,718 3,827,941

Rwanda HSSP 4 59
 11.3. Discussion of the costing results

The cost estimates of the HSSP IV show that the plan will cost almost 4.4 trillion RWF for the entire
strategic period. The brunt of expenditure is projected to occur mainly at the higher levels of the
system due to the high cost of the national programmes and the health centre costs. This is largely
driven by the costs of chronic care management such as drugs for HIV and NCDS as well as the costs
of preventive interventions such as nets and vaccines at these levels. Given the focus on managing
the growing burden of NCDs this is to be expected. It may, however, be prudent to see whether
some activities delivered at the higher levels such as immunization and bed net distributions can be
shifted to lower levels of care to increase efficiency and contain costs.

Strong and resilient health systems are critical for improved service coverage financial protection and
health outcomes. The tables above show significant investments planned for Human resources for
health, infrastructure and equipment, supply and access to medicines and health information
systems. Underpinning this is the availability of financing. Thus, it will be critical to mobilize the
necessary resources for the health systems. Given the plan to scale up the number of Health Posts
for improved service coverage, the HRH and infrastructure costs are projected to be high in the
strategic plan. These will need to be matched by the investments in drugs and supplies to
functionalize the facilities.
To assess the feasibility of the plan and the resource mobilization efforts required, a financial
sustainability assessment would have been suitable. It was however, not included in the scope of the
costing, but should be undertaken to estimate the affordability of the plan given current resources
available and to institute resource mobilization strategies to fill the funding gap if it exists.

Rwanda HSSP 4 60
Rwanda HSSP 4 61
ANNEXES

Rwanda HSSP 4 1
11.3.1. Annex 1. Organisation chart of the health sector

Rwanda HSSP 4 2
Annex 2. Map of Health Facilities in Rwanda (October 2016)

Rwanda HSSP 4 3
11.3.2. Annex 3. List of approved policies and draft policies / @ www.moh.gov.rw

LIST OF APPROVED POLICIES

1. National Health Sector Policy

2. National Food and Nutrition Policy
3. Mental Health Policy
4. National Pharmacy Policy
5. Human Resource for Health Policy.
6. Community Health Policy
7. Health Financing Policy
8. Health Promotion Policy
9. Health Research and Information access
10. Health Sector ICT Policy
11. Non Communicable Disease Policy
12. Traditional and Complementary Medicine Policy

LIST OF DRAFT POLICIES

13. Maternal, Neonatal, Family Planning and Reproductive Health Policy
14. Infectious Diseases Policy
15. Health Care Service Access Policy

Rwanda HSSP 4 4
11.3.3. Annex 4. Structure and functions of Technical Working Groups and sub-groups

Functions of the TWGs (2013)

Technical Working Groups (TWG) are operational entities where technical and policy issues are discussed by MOH with its stakeholders such as
Development Partners, NGOs, Private sector and Civil Society. In these fora, people participate in their technical capacity and normally
represent their agencies.

Rwanda HSSP 4 5
The objective of the TWG is to support and advise the MOH in the implementation of sub-sector strategies and policies. All TWG operate under
the authority of the Health Sector Working Group (HSWG) that is constituted of representatives of MOH, DP and civil society.
All TWG (with their desks and sub-desks) are coordinated/guided by a Chair (MOH representative) and a Co-chair (DP representative).

MOH distinguishes the following Technical Working Groups

1. The MCH Division in RBC is composed of several ‘desks’ and ‘sub-desks’, as follows:
• Maternal (including Fistula) and Child Health Units (with sub-desks in ASRH&R and Gender / Gender Based Violence)
• Family Planning Desk
• Nutrition Desk
• Community Health Desk
• Environmental Desk
• The Immunization Desk (This desk has recently been moved to RBC)
Most of these desks and sub-desks work with partners in Technical Working Groups’, in which all the required technical expertise is brought
together.

Other (operational) TWG are working in the area of:

2. Prevention and control of Diseases, with the following ‘desks’:
• HIV and other Communicable Diseases
• Non-Communicable Disease (NCDs)
• Health Promotion and BCC
• Environmental health

3. Treatment and control of Diseases with the desks:

• Care and Treatment
• Mental Health
• Laboratory
• Epidemic Control and Surveillance

4. Health Systems Strengthening (HSS), with various sub-groups:

• Planning, budgeting and M&E

Rwanda HSSP 4 6
• HIS
• Human Resources for Health
• Health Commodities
• Health Technology including E-Health / e-Learning.
• Health Financing
• Quality of Service Delivery
• Governance and Decentralization
• Specialized Services

5. Social mitigation with desks for:

• OVC and other vulnerable people
• Approbation of micro-projects

6. Health Sector Research and Knowledge Management

• Operational Research
• Clinical research
• Research in social sciences

Rwanda HSSP 4 7
11.3.4. Annex 5. Documents consulted
Author & Date Title of the document
GOR/MINECOFIN, Rwanda Vision 2020
July 2000
GOR-MOH, Oct 2012 Third Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP, July 2012 - June 2018), final version
IHP+, June 2012 Joint Assessment of the Rwanda's Third Health Sector Strategic Plan
NISR, 2013/14 Rwanda Integrated House Hold Living Conditions Survey (EICV)
IHP+, June 2014 JANS Final TB Report and PPT Presentation
MOH 2014 MOH Procurement Plan 2014-2015
MOH, Sept 2015 Mid Term Review of the Rwanda Third Health Sector Strategic Plan (65 pages), HSSP
III, July 2012 – June 2018
MOH, Jan 2015 Health Sector Policy (41 pages)
MOH, March 2015 Health Financing and Sustainability Policy (24 pages)
MOH, undated Health Sector Annual Report July 2015 - June 2016 (38 pages)
MOH 2015 Annual Health Statistical Booklet, (90 pages)
NISR, undated DHSS: Demographic and Health Survey 2014/15. Key findings
NISR, June 2015 DHSS Key Findings (22 slides)
RDHS, 2014/15 Key Indicators Results (KIR, vs 31), (35 slides)
GOR/MOH, July 2015 Rwanda's Performance against the MDGs, (31 slides)
MOH, March 2015 HRH Sustainability Agenda 2014-2024
MOH / MH, undated Decentralization and Integration of Mental health care in PHC: a case study of
Rwanda
USAID, April 2015 Rwanda Health Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Report
WHO undated WISN Methodology: workload indicators of staffing needs
WHO 2016 Strategizing National Health in the 21st Century: a Handbook (720 pages)
RSSB, Jan 2016 Community Based Health Insurance Annual Report; Financial Year 2015/16
MOH CBHI Dept, undated Action Plan CBHI 2017/2018
MOH / USAID, Dec 2016 Report of Costing of Rwanda’s Community Health Workers Integrated Services
MOH/LSTM, Nov 2016 Comprehensive evaluation of the Community Health Program in Rwanda
MOH, 2016 Draft HRH Strategic Plan 2016-2021
MOH April 2016 Rwanda Health Financing and Sustainability Policy
OAG Report 2016 Office of the Auditor General of State Finance for the year ended June 2016
GOR, June 2016 Public Private Partnership Law of Rwanda
MINECOFIN, Nov 2016 EDPRS 2 Interim Mid-term Assessment Report
MINECOFIN/GIZ, Jan 2016 Study on Expenditure assignments Rwanda; Decentralization and Good Governance

Rwanda HSSP 4 8
 Program, Health Sector
MINECOFIN, Dec 2016 The Rwanda we want: towards Vision 2050
Hon. Claver Gatete (PPT)
MINECOFIN, Dec 2016 Elaboration of Vision 2050 and NST, roadmap and methodology
NDPR (PPT)
WHO, June 2016 Healthy Aging and Life Course

WHO, June 2016 Regional Strategy for health security and emergencies
MOH, Jan 2017 Health Service Packages for Public Health Facilities
MOH, 2017 (PPT) Heath Sector Priorities 2017-2018
MOH, 2017 (PPT) Health Sector Priorities for HSSP 2018-2024
MOH, June 2017 (PPT) Various Situational Analysis (PPT and Excel files)
MOH 2017 (booklet) Strengthening Health Systems, evidence informed approaches and Lessons Learned
from Rwanda
MOH/MTI. June 2017 Infrastructure analysis and service package comparison with iceberg, complexity
and equipment management presentation
MINECOFIN, 2017 (PPT) SDG action in Rwanda
MINECOFIN, April 2017 (PPT) SDGs action, the Rwanda context
MINECOFIN, 2017 (PPT) Budget Framework Paper 2017-2018
MINECOFIN, June 2017 Harnessing the Demographic Dividend
MINECOFIN, 2017 Elaboration Guidelines for the health sector
MINECOFIN, undated Revised Roadmap for elaboration of Vision 2050 and NST
MINECOFIN May 2017 Updates on Vision 2050 and NST elaboration process
Godfrey Kabera (PPT)
MOH, April 2017 RMNCAH Policy
WHO undated 2017 Menu of options (for UHC development)
WHO 2017 Executive Summary UHC framework (draft)
WHO 2015 NCD Monitoring Indicators
WHO 2013 NCDs Global Action Plan 2013-2020

Rwanda HSSP 4 9
11.3.5. Annex 6. Service Package interventions by level

Level of Service Strategic Vision/ Priorities for 2024, 2035 and 2050
Delivery
HOUSEHOLD Household Service Package: this package facilitates healthy living at household level for all
age cohorts in the household.
Key Stakeholders:
The services should include:
• Heads of
Households Reproductive Health
• CHWs • Reproductive Health (RH) and Family Planning (FP) Services: the package should
• Village Health include:
Committees ▪ Adequate information to enable clients to make RH & FP choices that are
• Health Post appropriate to their socio-economic status, health status and socio-cultural
Management beliefs
Committee ▪ Availability of all FP methods that facilitates choice of preferred method by
• Sector Health well-informed FP clients
Committee ▪ Facilitating access to Cervical Cancer vaccination and screening
• DHMT
Water, Environmental Sanitation& Hygiene (WASH / WATSAN)
• Self-Care package at household level: the package should include:
- Adequate information on healthy nutrition, family and personal
hygiene, critical diagnostic equipment that empowers families to
monitor their health at home e.g.
Diagnostic Package
- Weighing Machines for monitoring body weight
- Pregnancy Test Kits
- Electronic Glucometer for Diabetes
- B.P Machine for Hypertensive Patients

Rwanda HSSP 4 10
 - Etc.
NB: affordability of these will depend on socio-economic status of the patient /
household.
Health Promotion
• Promotion of healthy living and lifestyles, e.g.
▪ Healthy Nutrition
▪ Healthy Sleep Habits
▪ Exercises for Physical and Mental fitness
▪ Etc.
Promotion of health values of the following key Public Health / Public Good interventions:
▪ Immunisation (packages for different age cohorts), e.g. EPI, HPV, HB virus,
Rabies, etc.
▪ Proper waste disposal in public places
▪ Embracing of and investment in renewable and healthy energy sources
▪ Etc.
Emergency Response:
• Basic First-aide techniques and Self-medication / basic over-the-counter
medications (e.g. burns, drowning, muscular-skeletal accidents, head injuries; wild
animal bites; alcoholic comas, poisoning; etc.)
▪ Health education on emergencies, their causes and management
▪ Emergency phone contacts: Ambulance Services, Police & Closest MOH
Registered Health Facilities and Health Workers
▪ Legal implications of emergencies
▪ Etc.
Culture & Health: Need to focus on the positive aspects of cultures and pay attention to
cultural differences and sensitivities e.g. some women in Rwanda do not want to talk about
their pregnancies before it really shows (because of socio-cultural beliefs)
Note: The UHC Orientation: This package should be tailored to different age brackets at the
household level (Children, Adolescents, Youth, Adults and the Elderly)

Rwanda HSSP 4 11
 COMMUNITY Community Service Package: Review the current CHWs Package (refer to CHW study by
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Nov 2016) to address the following:
Key Stakeholders:
Emergency Response:
• CHWs
• Village Health - Clear Definition of roles and responsibilities of the First Responder (e.g. in case of
Committees accidents- Contacts of Ambulance Services; contacts of Police; contacts of the nearest
• Health Post health facilities; contacts of CHWs and close health professionals
Management HRH- Highlighting Community Based Workforce:
Committee
• Sector Health - Availability of community level health workers (e.g. CHWs and Palliative Care workers
Committee of different age groups to cater for both adults / elderly and adolescents / youth)
• DHMT - Package should be linked to geographical areas needs and their socio-economic settings
and socio-cultural sensitivities
- Regularize refresher training of CHWs (based on MOH Curriculum) and supervision of
CHWs
- Need to create a motivation package for CHWs; a non-financial motivation package is
deemed suitable and sustainable (e.g. Certification; recognition awards; etc.)
Meaning of Community:
- Need for clear definition of what community means (i.e. the meaning of Community) in
quantitative, geographical and administrative perspectives in both rural and urban
setting. Hence what definition does MOH / GoR advise?
Scope of Community Package:
- Community package should include a comprehensive Geriatric Group i.e. care for the
elderly people in addition to the other age cohorts (pregnancy & neonatal period; child
age range; adolescents & Youth and adults)
Evaluation of Performance of the Community Health Package
- Conduct an annual evaluation (or evaluation after every two years) of CHWs to assess
their retirement options (since many drop out because of advanced age)
HEALTH POSTS (HPs) Current service package includes preventive, consultation, ANC, promotion, basic lab
NB: services (e.g. RDT, malaria, pregnancy tests, etc.). This package needs to be adjusted to

Rwanda HSSP 4 12
 • There are currently include:
476 HPs UHC-Oriented HP Service Package:
• There are two
models of HPs: one - Public Private Community Partnership functions of the Health Post
running on purely - Expected quality standards of services at the HP level
public model and - Need to equip health staff of HPs with basic skills for diagnosis and management of
another on PPCP NCDs
model Essential Diagnostic Package
Key Stakeholders: - Basic Lab Diagnostic services (especially availability of microscopy, basic clinical
• CHWs chemistry tests and serological test kits for common diseases in the country).
• Village Health Hence need for MOH to define Lab Service Package for health posts.
Committees - Development of criteria for identification of a few health posts that should have in-
• Health Post house / in-built laboratory services (e.g. 1 out of every 3; population density based,
Management extremely difficult-terrain related demands; etc.)
Committee
Supervision of Health Posts
• Sector Health
Committee - Strengthen the supervisory role of health centres over HPs
• DHMT
HEALTH CENTERS There is need to build on the current package for Maternal & Child Care to include;
(HCs) - Surgical Functions (availability of Minor Surgery at HCs)
o Improve initial management of trauma patients
Key Stakeholders:
- Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) package i.e. improve quality of NCD services at
• CHWs
health centres
• Village Health
- Physiotherapy, Physical Fitness & Rehabilitation
Committees
o Include in the package Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation services
• Health Posts
- FP Services
• Sector Health o Add to the HC service package Long Term Family Planning methods for the
Committee ‘medicalized’ health centers
• DHMT - Dental Services: Improve the range of Dental Services provided at HC level
- Diagnostic Services:
o Expand the diagnostic service package to include (basic imaging services e.g.
ultrasonography and basic laboratory services).

Rwanda HSSP 4 13
 o Screening for NCDs: Basic screening services should be available e.g. VIA for
cervical cancer; HB Virus screening; etc.
- Medicalized Health Centers
o Increase the number of medicalized health centers based on objective criteria
DISTRICT HOSPITALS Improve the package of District Hospitals to provide better Secondary Healthcare:
(DHs) HRH: Improve the general HR capacity in DHs
Specialized Services Package:
Key Stakeholders:
- General Practitioners should get technical support from Visiting Specialists (by 2035)
• Senior
and Resident Specialists (by 2050)
Management
- Train specialist nurses, midwives and Allied Health Professionals to work in specialized
Team
wards of DHs (e.g. Obstetrics & Gynaecology, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, etc.)
• District Hospital
- Re-organize and strengthen the following hospitalization services in DHs (Neonatology
Management &
and Kangaroo mother care; General Paediatrics and Gynaecology)
Advisory Board
- Improve the currently weak anaesthetic package to promote Safe Surgery and
• DHMT
Anaesthesia
Diagnostics & Imaging Services:
- Strengthen Lab and Imaging Diagnostics
- Blood transfusion services should be available in all DHs
- Lab service should include haematology, Microbiology plus culture & sensitivity; Clinical
chemistry; pathology biopsies for cytology,
Obstetrics & Gynaecology: all DHs should be able to provide the following services:
- Availability of competent staff to deal with obstetric complications e.g. managing PPH,
emergency hysterectomy, ANC, ultrasound, postnatal care, FP, etc.
- Increase scope of gynaecology services in DHs e.g. elective gyn surgery services
(removal of breast lumps)
- Diagnose and treat basic fertility related cases
- Manage simple VVF (VV fistulae)
- Improve quality of antenatal and postnatal care
Critical Care
- Upgrade all Emergency Service Units in DHs to competently handle referred
emergencies

Rwanda HSSP 4 14
 - DHs should have a package for Critical Care Services which should include:
- HDUs/high dependency units
- EMT- (emergency medical technician/ pre hospital) emergency care packages
- Safe transfer mechanisms /Specialised Ambulance care
- Basic life support & Advanced cardiac support
- Have competent surgical and anaesthetic team to manage critical surgical patients (e.g.
Laparotomies, reduction of open fractures, etc.)
Telemedicine & Mentorship
- DHs should improve quality of care through telemedicine, including both emergency
and diagnostic services
- Top (Referral Hospitals)- Bottom (DH) Mentorship of staff should be augmented-
including telemedicine based
Other Services to include in the package:
- Basic ENT services
- Dental Services
- Mental Health services
- Ophthalmology services supported by Visiting Ophthalmologists
- Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation services
- Sports medicine & fitness mainstreaming services
- Centralize sterilization of equipment, laundry, etc.
- Availability of continuously updated Treatment Guidelines / Protocols
PROVINCIAL The following (currently identified) packages should be in place in all provincial hospitals by
2024:
Key Stakeholders:
Paediatrics Service Package:
• Senior
The paediatrics service package should be expanded to include
Management
- Advanced Diagnostics
Team
- PICU
• Provincial
- NICU
Hospital
- Paediatrics Emergency
Management &
Advisory Board General Oncology:
• DHMT - Specialised oncology care services should be instituted

Rwanda HSSP 4 15
 Obstetrics & Gynaecology
- A general gynaecologist to handle obstetrics emergencies that need advanced care
- Manage Basic Fertility
- Laparoscopy
- ANC & Post Natal Care
Anaesthesiology:
There should be at least 10 anaesthesiologists (at least two) at the provincial levels (by
2050)
Ophthalmology
- Specialist ophthalmology services
- Ophthalmology outreach services
Other Specialist Services
Provincial Hospital Service packages should also include the following specialist level
services:
- Dermatology
- Psychiatrist
- Dental
- ENT
- Diagnostic laparoscopy
Critical Care
- Provincial Hospitals should provide advanced critical care services- both HDUs and ICUs
Public Health Labs
- In addition to the National Reference Lab, the country will need two additional
strategically located Public Health Labs.
- Meanwhile, Provincial Hospital Labs will continue to provide Public Health Lab
functions (e.g. case definitions and collection and dispatch of suspected epidemic
diseases e.g. cholera, meningitis, measles, etc.)
REFERRAL HOSPITAL Referral Hospitals will provide specialized technical services in Internal Medicine,
Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Surgery.
Key Stakeholders: Surgery Services

Rwanda HSSP 4 16
 • Senior Specialised surgical services will include:
Management - General & Orthopaedic surgeons
Team - Urology procedures
• Referral Hospital - Renal services
Management & - Cardiology, Endoscopy & Colonoscopy services
Advisory Board - Fluoroscopy, CT scan
• DHMT Internal Medicine:
Specialised Internal Medicine services will include:
Gastro-Enterology, oncology, cardiology, haematology, nephrology, neurology, infectious
diseases, etc.
Obstetrics & Gynaecology:
Specialised Obstetrics & Gynaecology services will include: all advanced Obstetrics &
Gynaecology specialised services
Paediatrics:
Specialised Paediatrics services will include: all advanced paediatrics specialist services
Dentistry and Oral Surgery
Specialised Dentistry and Oral Surgery services will include: all advanced Dentistry and Oral
Surgery
Medical Specials
Specialised Medical Special services will include: Dermatology, Immunology, Endocrinology,
etc.
Surgical Specials
Specialised Surgical Special services will include: ENT, Urology, Plastic Surgery, etc.
Imaging Diagnostics:
Advanced services in these areas will be provided, thus:
• Radiology: Digital X-ray, U/S, CT scan
• Ultrasonography: Advanced Ultrasonography services
Critical Care
- They provide advanced critical care services- both HDUs and ICUs

Rwanda HSSP 4 17
 TEACHING HOSPITAL The service package in teaching hospitals will include: expanded highly specialised care in
all services and provision of Private Healthcare Services. These services are outlined as
Key Stakeholders: below:
- Senior
Surgery:
Management
- General Surgery, Cardio-Thoracic, Vascular, Colon-Rectal, Neurosurgery, Orthopaedics,
Team + MOH DG
Hepato-Biliary, Paediatric, Laparoscopic, Urology, Maxillofacial, ENT, Ophthalmology,
Clinical Services
Plastic Surgery
- Teaching Hospital
Management & Internal Medicine:
Advisory Board - Gastro-Enterology, Oncology, Cardiology, Haematology, Nephrology, Neurology,
- DHMT Infectious Diseases, Etc.
Obstetrics & Gynaecology:
- Advanced specialist services, teaching and research
Paediatrics:
- Advanced specialist services, teaching and research
Dentistry
- Advanced Dentistry and Oral Surgery
Medical Specials
- Dermatology, Immunology, Endocrinology, etc.
Surgical Specials
- ENT, Urology, Plastic Surgery, etc.
Imaging Diagnostics:
• Radiology: Digital X-ray, U/S, CT scan, MRI and Radiotherapy
• Ultrasonography: Advanced Ultrasonography services
• Nuclear Medicine & Imaging: Isotopic imaging
Pathology: Micro-biology, Cytological Analysis, Forensic Medicine; Cytological research
Molecular Medicine: Molecular medicine research
Pharmacology: Pharmacological research and medicinal product development and
patenting; Advanced training in pharmacy and pharmacology

Rwanda HSSP 4 18
 Advanced Midwifery and Nursing education
Critical Care
- They provide advanced critical care services- both HDUs and ICUs
- Teaching and research
The National Reference Lab is the highest lab in the country. Its service scope includes:
- Provision of advanced Public Health Laboratory services
- Provision of diagnostic bases of health security in the country
- Supervision and recommendation for accreditation of all the lower labs- both clinical
National Reference
and the Regional Public Health Labs
Laboratory
- Reception of samples from the lower level clinical and public health labs for further
analysis
- Referral to regional and international reference labs epidemiological specimens that
need further technical analysis at more advanced reference labs

Rwanda HSSP 4 19
 HSSP4 LOGICAL FRAMEWORK: INDICATORS & TARGETS
OVERALL Ensure universal accessibility (in geographical and financial terms) of equitable and affordable quality health services
OBJECTIVE (preventative, curative, rehabilitative and promotional services) for all Rwandans.
IMPACT Improved health status of the country’s population

HSSP 4 IMPACT INDICATORS

INDICATORS: Baseline Indicator Targets MEANS OF
Impacts Indicator VERIFICATION
Value Target Target Target Target Target Target
(2016/17) 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Population of Rwanda (estimates, in millions) 12 (2017) 13 14.5 NISR

Life expectancy at Birth 66.6 TBD TBD NISR

Population Growth Rate 2.4 TBD TBD NISR

Maternal Mortality Ratio/100, 000 Live Births 210 168 126 DHS
(LB)
Neonatal Mortality Rate/1000 LB 20 18 15.2 DHS

Infant Mortality Rate/1000 LB 32 28 22.5 DHS

Under-five Mortality Rate/1000 LB 50 48 35 DHS

Rwanda HSSP 4 20
Premature Mortality rate attributed to NA - - 50 80 HSASB/CVRS
cancer, diabetes and HTA
Premature Mortality rate from road traffic NA - - 50 80 HSASB/CVRS
accidents

HSSP 4 OUTCOME & OUTPUT INDICATORS

COMPONENT I: SPECIFIC HEALTH SERVICE DELIVERY PROGRAMS
11.4. Essential Services across the Life Course: pregnancy, early life, children, adolescents and youth programs
Indicators Baseline Indicator Targets MEANS OF
Outcome / Output Indicator Value Target Target Target Target Target Target VERIFICATION
(2016/17) 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Percentage of births attended by skilled health 91 >93 >95 >95 >95 >95 >95 DHS
professionals
ANC coverage (4 standards visits) 44 47 51 DHS

% Births attended by skilled health care provider 91 >90 >90 DHS

% New-borns with at least one PNC visit within 19 25 35 DHS

the first two days of birth

Modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) 48 54.6 60 DHS

Unmet need for Family Planning 19 17 15 DHS

Maternal mortality rate 210 168 126 DHS

Neo-natal mortality rate 20 16 15.2 DHS

Under five mortality rate 50 48 35 DHS

Infant Mortality Rate/1000 LB 32 28 22.5 DHS

% Children 12-23 months fully immunized 93 >93 >93 DHS

Rwanda HSSP 4 21
% Exclusive Breastfeeding < 6 months 87% >90% >90% DHS

Prevalence of malnutrition (Stunting) among 38 29.9 19 DHS

Children under 5

Teenage pregnancy rate (15-19 years) 7.3 <7 <7 DHS

Adolescent birth rate (aged 10-14 years; aged 15- 5.5 >5 >5 DHS
19 years) per 1,000 women in that age group

Proportion of children with diarrhoea receiving 12 >10 >10 DHS

oral rehydration solution (ORS)

11.5. Coverage of Essential Health Interventions: communicable and non-communicable diseases

11.5.1. Communicable diseases
11.5.1.1. HIV / AIDS and Viral Hepatitis
Baseline Indicator Targets Means of
Indicator
Target Verification
Indicator Value Target Target Target Target Target
Outcome / Output (2016/17) 2018/1
2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
9

HIV prevalence among people aged 15–49

3 3 3 3 <3 <3 <3 Annual Statistical Booklet
years
Number of new HIV infections per 1,000 Annual Statistical Booklet
uninfected population, by sex, age and key 2.7 2
populations
Proportion of persons diagnosed with HIV Annual Statistical Booklet
82.7 85 90%
infection receiving sustained ART
HIV incidence/1000 population 2.7 2.5 2 Annual Statistical Booklet

Percentage of infants born to HIV + Annual Statistical Booklet

95 >95 >95
mothers free from HIV by 18 months
Hepatitis B incidence per 100,000 Survey/ Annual Statistical
NA >3 >2
population Booklet

Rwanda HSSP 4 22
11.5.1.2. Tuberculosis and other respiratory communicable diseases
Baseline Indicator Value Means of
Indicator Targets
(2016/17) Verification
Indicator
Target Target Target Target Target Target
Outcome / Output
2018/ 2019/ 2020/ 2021/ 2022/ 2023/
19 20 21 22 23 24
TB incidence per 100,000 population WHO Global TB
58 45 31.8
Report
Annual Statistical
TB treatment coverage rate 84 86 88
Booklet
Treatment success rate (TSR) for all forms of TB cases (DS Annual Statistical
85% 87% ≥87
& DR-TB cases) Booklet
Proportion of newly diagnosed leprosy with grade 2 Annual Statistical
19% 13% 10%
disability Booklet

11.5.1.3. Malaria, Neglected Tropical Diseases and other parasitic diseases

Baseline Indicator Targets

Indicator MEANS OF
Indicator Value Target Target Target Target Target Target VERIFICATION
Outcome / Output (2016/17) 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Proportion Households with at least
81 84 85 DHS,HMIS as a proxy
one LLIN estimation
Malaria incidence per 1,000 HMIS, WHO Global
308 200 122
population Malaria Report
Malaria proportional mortality rate 5.7 4.5 3 Annual Statistical
Booklet
Proportion of children under five
years old who slept under a LLIN the 80 84 85 DHS
previous night

Rwanda HSSP 4 23
Proportion of targeted population Annual Statistical
96* 97 98
who received MDA Booklet
Prevalence of soil transmitted Mapping report
45.2% 35% <20%
helminthiasis (STH)
Prevalence of Schistosomiasis (SCH) 1.9 1.0 0.5 Mapping report

11.5.2. Non-Communicable Diseases & Injuries

11.5.2.1. Overall interventions for NCDs, Injuries and disabilities
Baseline Indicator Targets
Indicator MEANS OF
Indicator Value Target Target Target Target Target Target VERIFICATION
Outcome / Output (2016/17) 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Percentage of NCD combined high 16.4
risk factors in the population aged 15 12 STEP Survey
between 15-64 years

Percentage of reduction of NA 50 80
premature mortality (under 40 years CVRS/Annual
old) due to NCDs (cancer, HTA and Statistical Booklet
diabetes)
Percentage of reduction of NA 50 80
premature mortality (under 40 years
CVRS/Annual
old) due to NCDs due to road traffic
Statistical Booklet
accidents (RTA) as the leading cause
in non-intentional injuries
Teeth and gum diseases morbidity 4% 2.07% 1,84% Annual Statistical
rate at health facility level Booklet

Eye diseases problem morbidity rate 3 <2 <2 Annual Statistical

at health facility level Booklet

Cataract Surgical Rate (number of 400 700 1000 Annual Statistical

cataract surgeries per million Booklet

Rwanda HSSP 4 24
population per year)

Age-standardized prevalence of 9.03 6.32 DHS and STEP Study

current tobacco use among persons 12.9
aged 15 years and older (outcome)
Age-standardized prevalence of 17.1% >17.1% >17% STEP Survey
overweight and obesity in persons
aged 18+ years (defined as body mass
index ≥ 25 kg/m² for overweight and
body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m² for
obesity)

11.5.2.2. Mental Health services

Baseline Indicator Targets
MEANS OF
Indicator Indicator Value Target Target Target Target Target Target VERIFICATION
Output (2016/17) 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Proportion of new cases treated in 0.1 0.2 0.6 Annual Statistical
health facilities (HC+DH+PH+RH) for Booklet
mental disorders

11.6. Cross-Cutting Health Service Delivery Programs: Health promotion, environmental health, and health security
11.6.1. Health promotion and environmental health,

Baseline Indicator Targets

MEANS OF
Indicator Indicator Value Target Target Target Target Target Target VERIFICATION
Output (2016/17) 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Percentage of Health centres 16 0 0 Annual Statistical Booklet
without water
% Public Health Facilities 76 84 100 Annual Statistical Booklet
(RH,PH,DH and HC) with effective
waste management systems
according to MOH / WHO
standards

Rwanda HSSP 4 25
11.6.2. Health Security

Baseline Indicator Targets

MEANS OF
Indicator Indicator Value Target Target Target Target Target Target VERIFICATION
Outcome (2016/17) 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Proportion of outbreaks with a case 80% 100% 100% Annual Statistical
fatality rate below recommended Booklet
thresholds

International Health Regulations NA 6/13 attributes 13/13 attributes Joint External

(IHR) core capacity index attained attained Evaluation Report (JEE)

COMPONENT II: HEALTH SYSTEMS SUPPORTING DELIVERY OF HEALTH PROGRAMS

2.1. Quality assurance and improvement programs
Baseline Indicator Targets
Indicator MEANS OF
Indicator Value Target Target Target Target Target Target VERIFICATION
Outcome / Output (2016/17) 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Percentage of the population satisfied >80 >80 >80 >80 >80
with health services 74.9% >80 RGB Score Card

Independent accreditation body in place 0 1 1 Annual Statistical Booklet

and functional

% Malpractice cases assessed and N/A >95 >95 Annual Statistical Booklet
addressed

Number of National referral and teaching 1 3 5 Annual Statistical Booklet

Hospitals accredited

Number of newly upgraded referral 0 2 3 Annual Statistical Booklet

hospitals that have achieved level three
of the national accreditation process

Rwanda HSSP 4 26
Number of Provincial Hospitals that have 0 2 4 Annual Statistical Booklet
achieved level three of the national
accreditation process

Number of DH that have achieved level 0 15% 50% Annual Statistical Booklet
two of the national accreditation process

Number of laboratories reaching 5-star 1 2 5 Annual Statistical Booklet

(Five Star) accreditation

% Private HFs (polyclinics and hospitals) 0 10 % >95 % Annual Statistical Booklet

enrolled and pursuing level 1 of
accreditation process

2.2. Health Workforce (HRH)

Baseline Indicator Targets
Indicator MEANS OF
Value Target Target Target Target Target Target VERIFICATION
Indicator
Output (2016/17) 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Doctor/pop ratio (GP and 1/10,055 1/ 9,000 1/7,000 Health Professional Bodies Statistics,
Specialists as well) Report, Annual Statistical Booklet

Nurse/pop ratio 1/1,094 1/ 900 1/ 800 Health Professional Bodies Statistics,

Report, Annual Statistical Booklet

Midwife/pop ratio (women 1/ 4,064 1/ 3,500 1/ 2,500 Health Professional Bodies Statistics,
aged from 15-49) Report, Annual Statistical Booklet

Pharmacist /pop ratio 1/ 16,871 1/16,000 1/15,500 Health Professional Bodies Statistics,
Report, Annual Statistical Booklet

Lab Technicians /pop ratio 1/ 10,500 1/ 9,000 1/ 7,500 Health Professional Bodies Statistics,
Report, Annual Statistical Booklet
Doctor attrition rate NA >10% >5% Survey

Rwanda HSSP 4 27
2.3. Services availability and readiness (infrastructure and equipment)
Baseline Indicator Targets
Indicator MEANS OF
Value Target Target Target Target Target Target VERIFICATION
Indicator
Output / Outcome (2016/17) 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Number of sectors without a health centre 17 8 0 Annual Statistical Booklet
Number of health posts 473 593 623 Annual Statistical Booklet
constructed/rehabilitated in a cell previously
without any other health post
Number of super specialised health facilities 4 6 8 Annual Statistical Booklet
(to reduce the referrals abroad and promote
medical tourism)
Surgical procedures per 100,000 population 971 1,500 3,000 Annual Statistical Booklet
Peri-operative mortality rate (due to surgical 3.1 2.5 2 Annual Statistical Booklet
procedure)
Ratio ground ambulance / population 1/50,505 1/50,000 <1/50,000 Annual Statistical Booklet
Average time to walk to a nearby HF (in 56.5 50 45 EICV
minutes)
Number of hospitals with functional basic 8 42 50 Annual Statistical Booklet
maintenance system (trained manpower,
available tools and space for operations)
Number of referral hospitals with functional 1 3 4 Annual Statistical Booklet
telemedicine facilities
Percentage of health centres without electricity 17.2 0 0 Annual Statistical Booklet
(not connected to a nearby grid)
Percentage of Health centres with functional 36.5 70 100 Annual Statistical Booklet
internet and local area network connectivity
National Service availability readiness score NA 60% 80% ISS/SARA Reports
(including emergency services)
2.4. Health Products, Medicines and Commodities

Baseline Indicator Targets

MEANS OF
Indicator Indicator Value Target Target Target Target Target Target VERIFICATION
Outcome / Output (2016/17) 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
% of health products and health 55 80 90 e-LMIS Report
technologies available at the

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Central Medical Warehouse
% HFs with < 5% of medical 87 >95 >95 e-LMIS Report
products stock-outs

2.5. Health Information Systems (HIS) and Research

Baseline Indicator Targets
Indicator MEANS OF
Value Target Target Target Target Target Target VERIFICATION
Indicator
Output (2016/17) 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
% causes of deaths are NA 100% 100% Annual Statistical Booklet
reported according to ICD10

% births registered according NA 100 100 Annual Statistical Booklet

to the CRVS

% of public health facilities 4% 43% 72% Annual Statistical Booklet

(DH,PH and RH) using EMR
full package system

% private HF (dispensaries, 54% 100% 100% Annual Statistical Booklet

clinics, polyclinics and
hospitals) regularly reporting
through national data
collection systems (DHIS-2
and e-IDSR)

2.6. Health Financing

Baseline Indicator Targets

MEANS OF
Indicator Indicator Value Target Target Target Target Target Target VERIFICATION
Outcome / Output (2016/17) 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
% Household expenditure on NA <25 <10
health as a share of total EICV, HRTT Report
household income

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Proportion of population covered 90 >95% >95% EICV and HRTT Report
by health insurance

2.7. Crosscutting Issues indicators matrix- NCDs and HIV

Baseline Indicator Targets
Indicator Means of
Value Verification
Indicator Target Target Target Target Target Target
(2016/17) 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24

NCDs
Percentage of NCD combined high risk factors in
the population aged between 15-64 years 16.4 15 12 STEP Survey

Percentage of reduction of premature mortality

CVRS/Annual
(under 40 years old) due to NCDs (cancer, HTA NA 50 80
Statistical Booklet
and diabetes)
Percentage of reduction of premature mortality
(under 40 years old) due to NCDs due to road CVRS/Annual
NA 50 80
traffic accidents (RTA) as the leading cause in Statistical Booklet
non-intentional injuries
HIV
Proportion of persons diagnosed with HIV HMIS/Annual
infection receiving sustained ART 82.7 85 90% Statistical Booklet

HMIS/Annual
HIV prevalence among people aged 15-49 years 3 3 3 Statistical Booklet

HMIS/Annual
HIV incidence/1000 population 2.7 2.5 2 Statistical Booklet

Percentage of infants born to HIV + mothers free HMIS/Annual

from HIV by 18 months 95 >95 >95 Statistical Booklet

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