Rwanda: Rwanda Rolls Out Five-Year Strategy to Fight NCDs

What the report says

Rwanda has launched a new five-year strategy to reduce and eliminate several neglected tropical diseases, according to The New Times as distributed by AllAfrica. The 2026-2030 plan focuses on diseases including leprosy, river blindness, schistosomiasis and intestinal worms, with national goals extending through 2030. It also sets targets for other conditions such as lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, rabies, yaws and several parasitic and skin-related illnesses.

The report says the government estimates that 13 million people remain at risk of at least one neglected tropical disease, with rural and underserved communities carrying much of the burden. Rwanda plans to use a mix of mass treatment, routine deworming, school-based interventions, stronger surveillance and primary care integration. It also aims to shift gradually from broad drug campaigns toward more routine prevention where progress has already been made.

Among the specific goals, Rwanda wants to interrupt transmission of leprosy and river blindness by 2030, and reduce schistosomiasis and intestinal worms to below 1 percent in selected areas of Bugesera and Ruhango districts. The plan is valued at Rwf13.79 billion, and officials want domestic funding to cover at least 70 percent of NTD needs by 2030.

The article says Rwanda has made some gains, including a decline in intestinal worms and a drop in leprosy cases over the past decade, but also notes continuing transmission in some districts. It highlights challenges such as medicine shortages, limited diagnostics and gaps in data systems, showing why the strategy is intended both to sustain progress and to strengthen long-term health services.