Chinese medics pose for a photo with the patient after conducting the first painless delivery for a local mother at Masaka District Hospital in Kicukiro District of Kigali, Rwanda, on 8 March

Rwanda has inaugurated the $42-million expansion and renovation project of Masaka District Hospital, located in the Kigali suburbs of Masaka sector in Kicukiro District. 

“After the project completes, it will emerge as a vital medical centre in the Great Lakes region and the biggest general and university teaching hospital funded by the Chinese government,” said Rwanda’s Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente. 

“This hospital’s renovation and expansion will further enhance its capacity to provide advanced healthcare services. Infrastructure like this one is of great value to realising our vision to develop specialities and subspecialties, and train much-needed health professionals in a short time,” Ngirente said.   

Higher capacity 

The project, which is set to be completed by July 2025, would raise the hospital’s capacity to 2,000 patients per day, while the number of beds will be increased to 837.  

The hospital will also include the outpatient and emergency building, as well as the paediatric and infectious departments. Several technological tools shall also be introduced in the renovated health facility, which include the air compressor room, oxygen generator station, radiology department, blood bank, laboratory department, central sterile supply department, and ultrasound and functional examination rooms, among others. 

Rwanda’s Minister of Health Sabin Nsanzimana told ChinAfrica that the Chinese government has been supporting Rwanda’s health infrastructure not only in the form of Masaka District Hospital, but also Kibungo Referral Hospital in the Eastern Province. Such support is important and there is more to come in the future. 

Nsanzimana said that this expansion is expected to help in the rehabilitation of Masaka District Hospital and the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali, and expand services to reduce the number of patients travelling abroad for treatment. 

The health minister explained that the non-stop medical aid programme since 1982 is the demonstration of unbreakable cooperation between the Ministry of Health of Rwanda and China’s National Health Commission, a substantial and fruitful partnership between the two countries. 

He added that after completion, Masaka District Hospital will enhance an important aspect of teaching and training medical personnel in Rwanda.  

Chinese doctors and Wang Jiaxin (fifth left), economic and commercial counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Rwanda, pose for a photo with local doctors after a Chinese government donation of medical equipment at Masaka District Hospital in Kicukiro District of Kigali, Rwanda, on 3 April

Brotherly relations 

“The construction of the Masaka District Hospital is one of the largest China-aided projects in Rwanda, and it marks a milestone in health infrastructure cooperation between the two countries,” said Chinese Ambassador to Rwanda Wang Xuekun, adding that it was a testament to the brotherly relations the two countries enjoy. 

China is committed to working with Rwanda to promote the wellbeing of its people, and to that end, China will continue to support the development of Rwanda, said Wang. “It’s my firm belief that, with our joint efforts, cooperation in health will make even greater achievements.” 

Masaka District Hospital and Kibungo Referral Hospital are also the bases where Chinese doctors on aid missions provide medical services. Besides their routine work in the hospitals, Chinese doctors conduct monthly community outreaches in remote areas of the country so that nearby people could have timely access to medical services. In addition, they conduct specialised training for local medics in different public hospitals in Rwanda. 

“Training local medical workers is an important part of our mission, especially on complex surgical techniques, which are of vital importance for conducting surgeries,” said Zhao Shangjun, orthopedist and chief of the Chinese medical team currently in Rwanda. 

Since China sent out its first medical team to Africa in 1963, the country has exerted all means to assist Africa, in particular Rwanda, including building hospitals, providing medicines and medical devices, organising training sessions, and offering scholarships to assist Rwanda’s health-infrastructure building, capacity building and talent training. 

Through the partnership, local doctors have learned many things in their career and acquired knowledge and skills, and patients are pleased with activities like the free consultations provided, according to Lambert Nzivugira, an anaesthetist and physicist at Masaka District Hospital. Chinese doctors have treated local people, relieved their illnesses, exchanged ideas with Rwandan counterparts, and disseminated experience and technology. 

The Chinese medical team working in Rwanda recently performed the first painless delivery of a baby for Clementine Uwimana, a pregnant mother, at Masaka District Hospital. 

This type of birth procedure has existed in two other hospitals in the country - University Teaching Hospital, and King Faisal Hospital.  

“We want painless birth procedures to be used more and more in Rwanda. Therefore, we will try to promote it. We also hope that Chinese medics will give training to the local medics, specifically the anaesthesiologists, because many of them are used to spinal anaesthesia,” said Zhao. 

In an exclusive interview with ChinAfrica, Zhao said the operation was the first case of painless delivery performed by them since Chinese medics began their duties decades back. “We want to help Rwandan mothers to experience painless birth procedures at as low as $50.”  

The cost of a painless birth procedure in a private hospital in Rwanda usually ranges between $400 and $500, a cost only affordable to a limited number of people in the country.  

He added that unlike in China and Europe, painless deliveries are rare in Rwanda, and the Chinese medics will try to promote the use of epidural anaesthesia technology to help pregnant women to have painless deliveries. 

The China-Rwanda partnership in health care is a prime example of how two nations can work together to achieve common goals. With continued support and cooperation, the two countries can further improve the health and wellbeing of the Rwandan people.  

Masaka District Hospital was first constructed between 2009 and 2011 with 100 million yuan ($14.56 million) grant from the Chinese government. 

Recent statistics from the Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey indicate that over the last 20 years, maternal health in Rwanda has improved significantly; maternal mortality has decreased from 1,071 per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 203 per 100,000 live births. 

Reporting from Rwanda