{"id":78462,"date":"2024-07-09T16:24:37","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T16:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/gicumbi-residents-welcome-psds-pledge-to-extend-mutuelle-cover-in-all-pharmacies"},"modified":"2024-07-09T16:37:48","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T16:37:48","slug":"gicumbi-residents-welcome-psds-pledge-to-extend-mutuelle-cover-in-all-pharmacies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/parties\/gicumbi-residents-welcome-psds-pledge-to-extend-mutuelle-cover-in-all-pharmacies","title":{"rendered":"Gicumbi: Residents welcome PSD\u2019s pledge to extend Mutuelle cover in all pharmacies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Residents in Gicumbi have welcomed a pledge by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) to improve access to medicines for members of the community-based health insurance scheme (CBHI) \u2013 also known as Mutuelle de Sante\u0301 \u2013 in pharmacies.<\/p>\n

The move would be aimed at addressing the current situation where Mutuelle de Sante\u0301 members do not benefit from the 90 per cent cover of medical bills under the scheme, when it comes to buying drugs in pharmacies outside public health facilities.<\/p>\n

It is one of the promises in the party\u2019s manifesto for the parliamentary elections due July 14-16.<\/p>\n

The party is on an electoral campaign trail from June 22 to July 13, to garner votes for its 59 parliamentary candidates so that they get seats in the Chamber of Deputies, and for the re-election of the incumbent Paul Kagame.<\/p>\n

On July 8, the party held an electoral campaign rally in Gicumbi District.<\/p>\n

At all rallies since it launched campaign activities in Bugesera District on June 22, PSD said it will strive for improvements including making Mutuelle de Sante\u0301 work in all pharmacies across the country if its candidates get seats in Parliament.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs of now, when we go to health facilities for treatment and doctors prescribe drugs for us yet they are not available there, we have to buy them from pharmacies by paying 100 per cent of the cost,\u201d said Esperance Bagirinka, a Gicumbi District resident adding that the issue was negatively affecting access to medicines for people who cannot afford them through out-of-pocket expenditure due to limited financial means.<\/p>\n

The proposal to make Mutuelle de Sante\u0301 cover drug payments in pharmacies would be a relief for residents who subscribed to this scheme, she said.<\/p>\n

For Jean Claude Ndereyaho, another Gicumbi District resident, the validity of Mutuelle de Sante\u0301 use is limited to the level of health facilities as it does not help subscribers at pharmacy level.<\/p>\n

He appreciated the effort towards making Mutuelle de Sante\u0301 useful in terms of drug purchase in pharmacies.<\/p>\n

Earlier, on July 5, at a campaign rally held in Gasabo District, Agnes Uwubuntu, told The New Times that one day, a doctor at one clinic in Kigali prescribed a drug for her child\u2019s treatment, but she struggled to fully pay for it at a pharmacy as Mutuelle de Sante\u0301 does not support.<\/p>\n

\u201cI paid Rwf20,000 for the drug,\u201d she said, pointing out that the promise to ensure that Mutuelle de Sante\u0301 covers drug payments in all pharmacies is laudable.<\/p>\n

Dr Vincent Biruta chairperson, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) addressing members during the campaign rally in Gicumbi District, Northern Province, seeking votes for its 59 parliamentary candidates.<\/p>\n

PSD President Vincent Biruta observed, at the campaign event in Gicumbi District on July 8, that Mutuelle de Sante\u0301 has so far made progress in terms of supporting health care provision for its members, but improvement was needed to ease their access to drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are putting forward is that in the next five years, we make improvements such that a resident who needs medicines after consultation and prescription by a doctor, gets them closer to them, even a private pharmacy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The party vice president, Valens Muhakwa, told The New Times, on July 7, that there have observed cases where residents [patients] were treated but, as they could not get them at health facilities, they had to buy them from other pharmacies by paying the total price [as Mutuelle de Sante\u0301 was not covering part of the cost],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis issue should be addressed so that a resident does not have to pay the total cost of a drug, yet he\/she has bought health insurance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, there has been a concern of Mutuelle de Sante\u0301 being underfunded, hence making it unable to cover expensive drugs for patients who use this health insurance.<\/p>\n

On this concern, Muhakwa said that as improved access to medicines is a solution, resources should be mobilised to implement it.<\/p>\n

If need be, he suggested, Mutuelle de Sante\u0301 can be reformed with a view to get more funding for it such as through increasing residents\u2019 contributions to the scheme or the government\u2019s subsidy to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe aim is to treat a patient and provide him\/her with medicines to cure his\/her disease,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As of June 2023, Mutuelle de Sante\u0301 had 11.3 million subscribers, which implies a coverage of 90.5 per cent of the Rwandan population that this health insurance scheme has to cover, according to data from the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) \u2013 the scheme administrator.<\/p>\n

Established in 2003, the scheme is meant to offer medical cover to people with low incomes and those who are in informal employment.<\/p>\n\r\n