Rwanda
-- Health
Health
services
are provided
by the government-assisted
National
Welfare
Fund and
by religious
missions.
Rwanda's
health infrastructure
is slowly
being rebuilt
after severe
challenges
during the
recent crises.
Thirty-four
hospitals
are now
operating,
together
with at
least 200
health centers
and 70 dispensaries.
The last
decade has
seen a high
turnover
in trained
personnel;
nearly 60%
of current
personnel
was forced
to flee
in 1994.
Rwanda's
principal
health problems
are kwashiorkor,
infectious
hepatitis,
dysentery,
malaria,
and tuberculosis.
Only 50%
of the population
has access
to safe
drinking
water. Recently,
the spread
of AIDS
has become
a further
health problem.
Trauma has
been a major
health issue
in Rwanda
during the
last decade.
The Ministry
of Health
published
a statement
that psychiatric
illnesses
had increased
by 1,000%
since the
genocide.
Aid agencies
are struggling
to respond
to the crisis.
UNICEF has
trained
teachers
and health
workers
to work
with over
70,000 children;
other agencies
operate
smaller
programs.
Source:
Taylor,
C.C. 1995.
Rwandans.
In Worldmark
Encyclopedia
of Cultures
and Daily
Life.
