HVP Gataraga-Gikondo highlights medical challenges for people with disabilities

By Tite DUSABIREMA.

The HVP Gatagara-Gikondo Center for persons with Disabilities in Kicukiro District has raised some of the major obstacles in the treatment of people with physical disabilities like excluded healthcare services in Mutuelle de Santé/health insurance scheme.

The prosthetic limbs for example are not covered by Mutuelle de Santé and this imposes big problems of limited financial capacity to cover the services.

The call was made on Friday, December 3, 2021 as Rwanda joins the World in Celebrating International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The ceremony was celebrated at the district’s level in Kicukiro District at HVP Gatagara-Gikondo, bringing together persons with disabilities and their representatives from 10 sectors of the district.

Jean Pierre Nteziryayo, Director of HVP-Gatagara Gikondo pointed out some of the services provided by the center to people with disabilities, including locally made prosthetic limbs which, some of them are expensive.

 “When a person loses an organ, he/she can wear the prosthetic limb and puts on shoes and walks as if he/she had no problem, but the problem is that they are not covered by Mutuelle de santé. One uses other health insurance or pays hundren percent.” He said, noting that the cost of leg’s prosthetic limb varies between Rwf400,000 and Rwf800,000.

The fact that this service is expensive affects a person with physical disability from a needy family.

Andrew Nsekambabaye, Director of the European Union (EU)-funded HVP Gatagara Gikondo Project in Kicukiro District said that the project has been supporting education of children with mental disabilities aged between 5 and 18 years old.

“Here in Gatagara, they are given medical services and special education services with the support of the EU-funded project (Project number: 3995-EU-CBMD-MYP),” he said.

He said that since the launch of the project, it has helped 130 new children with the aim of re-enrolling them in the existing education of 180 children with mental disabilities within three years.

Other products that are expensive for people with disabilities include wheelchairs for children with disabilities who cannot afford to pay more than Rwf200,000 and most of them are from poor families.

Adalbert Rukebanuka, Kicukiro District’s Deputy District Executive Administrator said in a statement that he would continue to advocate for children with disabilities the district will continue to advocate for the issues through the Ministry of Education.

Jerome Shyiramunda, one of the parents with children with disabilities from Nyarugunga sector, said the government cares about them

 “We are happy to celebrate this day because people have been in homes for a long time and now they can see that children with disabilities are able as others and they have value and respect as human beings, the country cares them very much. We do appreciate the support they give us unless it is not hundred percent, for example healthcare services.” Shyiramunda said.

During the celebration of the international Day of persons wityh disabilities, some mature with physical disabilities were given free prosthetic limbs to replace old ones.

Some institutions of persons with disabilities in the district were also given certificates for their achievements in helping people with disabilities to realize their health potentials.

Statistics from the 2012 national population census  by the National Institute for Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) show that Kicukiro district has over 318,000 people of which 8,751 have disabilities, and 3,905 of them are women while the number of men is 4,846.

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