The PANAFRICAN Review
Rwanda ’ s Fight Against the Covid-19 Pandemic
Sabin Nsanzimana
On 30 January 2020 , COVID-19 was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization ( WHO ), and countries were asked to take appropriate measures to combat the spread of this virus . Prior to this , the Rwanda Biomedical Centre ( RBC ), as the main health implementation agency under the Ministry of Health in charge of disease prevention and control , had already been conducting epidemics surveillance and response interventions , building on the experience gained from the fight against the Ebola outbreak that occurred in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC ). RBC ’ s surveillance has focused on viral respiratory diseases such as influenza , involving case-based reporting , virology surveillance , community surveys , and contact tracing . Hence , when COVID-19 was declared a global health emergency , and before the first cases were detected in the country , Rwanda designed a preparedness and response plan in order to prevent , detect , and respond efficiently to any potential COVID-19 outbreak .
With the collaboration of WHO , the government of Rwanda took the first strides by initiating public health preventive measures , gathering and acquiring reliable information about the epidemic while preparing and strengthening its health system accordingly . Crucially , Rwanda started implementing strategies that were aimed at facilitating the coordination of preparedness and response efforts for an eventual COVID-19 outbreak , strengthening inter- and intrasectoral coordination , mobilizing internal and external resources , enhancing national capacities for
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