The latest surge in daily coronavirus cases in Rwanda has made the East African country’s health system implement a home-based care model targeting people under 65 with no symptoms.
The system, which was rolled out last week aims to ensure patients with mild cases and are out of the high risk population, are isolated at home until they test negative to the virus.
Official reports by Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) indicate that there are currently 18 treatment centers: 9 health centers and 7 schools with a total capacity of 1986 beds to accomodate COVID-19 patients across the country.
According to the Director General of RBC, DR Sabin Nsanzimana, the newly introduced home-care system would see COVID-19 patients get treated at home, especially those in the capital city Kigali and its outskirts.
This is because Kigali city accounts for the bulk of infections in the country, with the disease fast-spreading in the community, according to him.
Dr Menelas Nkeshimana, a medical doctor on frontline in COVID-19 fight at University Teaching Hospital in Kigali told APA that the newly introduced home-care system, which has taken off following the launch of guidelines, would help cushion the country’s health care system from being
In a move to deal with the rising number of patients, Rwanda initially repurposed some health centers and schools into special treatment centers for the pandemic.
However, this situation of turning health centres into Covid-19 treatment facilities creates a barrier in accessing health services, Rwandan health officials said.
“It would no longer be tenable to isolate patients in hospitals without emphasing alternatives,” Dr Nkenshimana
Official data shows that approximately 70% of cases are mild/asymptomatic and requiring only isolation and supportive management to recover, “and this can be done from the home set up.
Under the new scheme, Rwandan health officials emphase to mobilise community health workers who will take charge of patients like those in health facilities are taken care of by doctors and nurses and other medical specialists.
However, patients will also be followed up on a daily basis through phone calls where they will take their own temperatures daily and report the daily temperatures during the call; in addition to reporting other symptoms that may occur.
The decision to select a patient for home-based Covid-19 care will be informed by an assessment of the suitability of the patient’s home environment, it said.
Such home should not have people that are at high risk of complications from the pandemic for example those above 65 years of age; immunocompromised people; those who have chronic heart, lung, or kidney conditions, it said.
“Before one is released to continue with treatment at home, we must ascertain that this is possible. We visit their homes to access them and take views of their family members,” said Dr Nsanzimana.
But first of all. Rwandan health officials will make sure that the family members are then empowered to act as caregivers alongside the community health worker.
To be eligible for the program, one must be asymptomatic, have no underlying condition or show mild symptoms like having fever only it said.
In the meanwhile, some health experts also acknowledged that the main challenge of the success of the program is stigma.
This is because there is still a stigma of COVID-19 patients and this can be worse under the home-based care, Fidele Munyarukato, one of the medical expert managing a private clinic in Kigali told APA in an exclusive interview.
CU/abj/APA