Low-Income Country Improves Its Healthcare – Here’s How

Through low-cost insurance plans, the establishment of rural health posts, and foreign collaborations, Rwanda has enhanced its healthcare system, thus setting an example for other low-income countries to strengthen their own.

Premiums and copayments for community-based health insurance programs, or Mutuelles de Santé, were fully subsidized in 2011, and in 2020, more than 90% of the population was covered by some kind of health insurance. Consequently, life expectancy rose from 49.7 years in 2001 to 69.6 in 2022.

Another step authorities took is to establish health posts – 1,179 to be precise, between August 2021 and February 22 alone – to reduce the average walking time for patients, aiming at reducing it from 47 minutes in 2020 to 24 in 2024. Twenty-one second-generation health posts offer dental care, maternity care, laboratory testing, and ophthalmology. Rwanda spent 7.8% of its 2020 budget on health care, largely above the regional average.