President Kagame inaugurates the University of Global Health Equity - Butaro Campus
On Friday 25 th January 2019, President Kagame inaugurated the University of Global Health Equity - Butaro Campus; a subsidiary of Partners in Health that was created to address global health inequities.
In his address, President Kagame congratulated all the partners involved in the project and reiterated that the Government of Rwanda was proud to be associated with an institution whose mission is to address inequities in the health sector.
"The name of the school, the University of Global Health Equity, tells us something critical about its mission. It is not just about producing highly-skilled medical professionals, though that is of course the foundation. It is also about, first, teaching students to put the human factor at the centre of care. Hospitals don’t treat diseases, they treat individual people, each in his or her social and cultural context. And second, emphasising the importance of investing in and strengthening national health systems. Instilling those principles is essential for reducing the disparities in health outcomes, both within countries, and among different regions. So, we are proud to be associated with this institution" President Kagame said.
President Kagame further commended the role played by Partners in Health - also known in Rwanda as Inshuti mu Buzima - in the country’s health sector’s recovery. The organisation has been working with hospitals to provide high-quality medical care - these including the Butaro Cancer Centre of Excellence, as well as dozens of health centres and contributed to scientific research to measure the impact of health interventions.
The establishment of the University of Global Health Equity campus is a result of the partnership between the Government of Rwanda and Partners in Health. The initiative was launched in 2015 with the funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Cummings Foundation. Construction of the campus began in 2016, with classes and part-time studies based in the capital, Kigali.
Source: gov.rw