The Ministry of Relief, Minema, has announced that there are plans to change the treatment provided to all refugees in Rwanda, so that by 2025, all of them will be treated using the Health Mutual Fund (Mutuelle de Santé) like all Rwandans.
All the camps in Rwanda have medical infrastructure so that the sick can be treated at a health center with equipment and doctors, some of which are still in the hands of the United Nations Refugee Agency, while others have been handed over to the Ministry of Life.
In the talks Minister Maj Gen (Rtd) Albert Murasira had with the Senators of the Commission on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security in the Senate on November 27, 2024, he indicated that there is a plan to put all refugees together in medical treatment used by the people of Rwanda.
Minister Murasira said that they are reviewing the program in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Planning (MINICOFIN) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNHCR), in order to see how much the refugees will pay each year.
He said, "Refugees who live in all cities live in Mutuelle, but the United Nations Relief and Works Agency is helping them, if possible in the next year, all refugees should go to Mutuelle."
Minema figures show that 9,808 refugees living in cities are helped to pay for insurance upon request while those living in camps receive free medical care.
He said, "Even where they [refugees] usually receive medical treatment in the camp, they are treated for free, and when they go there, Rwandans also treat them, and sometimes they do not provide Mutuelle, saying that the neighbors of the camp will continue to receive treatment."
He confirmed that when this program is implemented, it will make it easier for HCR to call refugees.
In addition to the vaccines most of them received, more than 75 thousand refugees were diagnosed with hepatitis B, while more than 89 thousand were diagnosed with hepatitis C.
Statistics show that Rwanda has more than 135 thousand refugees, including those in the Mahama camp, which accommodates 68,115 thousand. Other camps with more people include Kiziba with 14,350, Kigeme with 14,868, Mugomba with 11,980 and Nyabiheke with 11,480.
