The overall objective of this policy is to increase the access to quality health services provided in the public health facilities and retain highly skilled health professionals (medical doctors and dental surgeons) in the public sector.

The overall goal of the National Strategy for Health Professions Development (2030) is to contribute to a substantial increase in the availability and coverage of high-quality services across Rwanda by improving the availability of a qualified, competent and equitably distributed health workforce.

It amends Article 5 of Law n° 03/2015 of 02/03/2015 governing the organization of the community based health insurance scheme; determines special rights of the child, subject to other rights provided for him/her by other law; and determines organisation and functioning of faith-based organisations.

This Order determines modalities of establishing and functioning of occupational health and safety committees.

This Order determines contributors to the community-based health insurance scheme, amounts of their contributions and modalities for their payment.

The ministerial order clearly determines and highlights al necessary fees related to registration of pharmeceutical products, medical devices, and other related services. It categorises the fees by services provided. All prior provisions contrary to this order are subsequently repealed.

The law establishes the Rwanda food and medicines authority (RFMA). It determines its mission, organization, and functioning. The authority enjoys financial and administrative autonomy, as well as legal personality. The RFMA is charged with quality control and standardisation with regards to food and pharmaceutical products.

“Highlights of the instructions of the city of kigali council relating to hygiene in the city. The instructions seek to; Promote hygiene and sanitation in the City
of Kigali, set up fundamental principles relating to hygiene protection in all ways, promote social welfare of the population of the City of Kigali taking into account the promotion of hygiene and prevention of diseases caused by poor hygiene, and sensitise the residents of the City of Kigali on hygiene-based sustainable development”.

The law establishes the Rwanda food and drugs authority, and determines its mission, organization, and functioning. The law regulates among others; human and veterinary drugs and vaccines, herbal medicines, medicated cosmetics, tobacco and tobacco products, and laboratory and cleaning chemicals and pesticides.

“This Roadmap plan discusses the current stage in the SWAp development process and gives short term and medium term recommendations for further steps towards a full SWAp. The government, through its ministry of health’s objective to grow towards an environment in the health sector of “One plan, one budget, one report” illustrates the felt need for harmonisation and alignment, so that jointly used systems lead to strengthened ministry leadership, increased effectiveness, efficiency, as well as transparency / mutual accountability. The purpose of this roadmap is not to replace HSSP framework and ongoing reforms. The adopted roadmap focuses specifically on actions towards enhancing a SWAp environment”.

Nutrition is a key element enshrined in the Millennium Development Goals of the UN. The events of the 90s left Rwandans in a poor nutritional situation. Various government interventions like the community based nutritional scheme has done little to alleviate the dire situation. Issues of maternal and child malnutrition are still rampant and consequently contributing significantly to the high morbidity and mortality rate in Rwanda. This policy highlights government’s renewed vigor towards holistically tackling the issue of malnutrition through the enactment of effective guiding principles, strategies, and implementation guidelines for effective nutrition interventions.

Cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, injuries and disabilities, oral, eye, and kidney diseases and other non-communicable diseases contribute significantly to mortality and morbidity rate. This policy will be integrated into existing health programs and will contribute towards achievement of the targets in the MDGs, EDPRS II, and the vision 2020. This policy aims to address challenges faced in combatting NCDs as they epidemiologically transition from infectious to chronic in Rwanda.

Mainly based on the health sector policy, this policy is also closely related with the health financing policy of 2010 which guides the sourcing of finances for health sector programs. The plan recognizes the steady progress of these policies and plans. It hopes to drive sustainability of these policies and explore new ways of financing the health sector to further drive government’s vision for universal health coverage.

Technological advancements have been directed at handling human resources challenges. This strategy recognizes the current gap in health sector targets with regards to health workers-inhabitants ratio. This policy document aims to provide guidelines towards planning, monitoring, and coordination of human resources in the health sector.

The government of Rwanda through its ministry of health acknowledges the important role effectively conducted research plays in ensuring sustainability of knowledge-based policies and strategies. Knowledge based policies ensure maximum benefit is achieved from implementation of such policies. This policy therefore defines the scope of health sector research and the guidelines to ensure researches are carried out in coordinated manners. It provides solutions to challenges inherent in health sector research.

This strategic plan on community health builds on the national community health policy of 2009 and is aligned with other important policies including; the EDPRS and the HSSP III. It attempts to learn from the challenges faced and the experiences garnered by previous interventions that were driven towards addressing the limited access to primary health care (PHC) in Rwanda. The government recognizes the multifaceted nature of the causes of limited access to PHC. It calls for intensified efforts to ensure deeper delivery of the comprehensive community health packages which include among others; Community Case Management (CCM), Mother and New Health program, Family Planning, Environmental Health and Hygiene, and the Community Based Nutrition Program. The National Community Health Strategic Plan ultimately aims to reduce maternal and child mortality through the comprehensive community health packages.

The need to ensure the protection of health sector information and communication is enshrined in the ICT policy. This policy aims to educate all stakeholders in the health sector on the need to ensure the process of collection, processing, and storage of health sector data are done securely. Other security issues highlighted include confidentiality, integrity, availability, and non-repudiation of data.

The government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Health has identified family planning as one of its national priorities for the health sector. This is motivated by the need to achieve drastic poverty reduction and improved socioeconomic conditions. This plan recognizes the significant improvement that has been recorded in the usage of modern contraceptives by the citizenry. However, it also calls for renewed effort to ensure the EDPRS target of 70% contraceptive usage is attained by 2016. This strategic plan therefore seeks to deepen commitment levels to the importance of family planning. It places much importance on training and re-training the relevant stakeholders that will drive this goal.

The importance of building government policies, strategies, guidelines, and plans on detailed and well carried out research has been emphasized on by the government of Rwanda. Consequently, the ministry of health has developed this guideline to serve as a tool for researchers aiming to carry out health research in Rwanda. These guidelines seek to ensure a smooth process for researchers by clarifying the process, expectations, and benefits of doing research in Rwanda.