Medical students contribute to community health and welfare

Benoit Ndagijimana is a medical student at the University of Rwanda’s College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) in Kigali who believes that his contribution towards the improvement of society should start while he is still a student.

Ndagijimana, chairman of the University of Rwanda Public Health Student Association (URPHSA) told University World News: “The association helps us coordinate different activities as students, but we also use it to organise outreach activities to support the vulnerable, using skills we have as medical and health science students.”

The activities the medical and health science students are involved in include fighting malnutrition among children under five years of age, fighting poor hygiene, treating some diseases and raising awareness on how to prevent non-communicable diseases.

Outreach activities are organised periodically and are facilitated through the university, Ndagijimana said. For instance, teams were in various parts of the country in early February, 2022 where they were involved in raising awareness on fighting malnutrition and promoting sanitation among citizens in Burera district, Northern Province.

High prevalence of stunting in Burera

“The outreach sought to raise awareness and provide health-related information to the community. The area has [growth] stunting issues and we trained citizens about a balanced diet and how to fight malnutrition, especially among small children,” he said.

According to the latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, the prevalence of stunting among children in the Burera district was at 41.6% in 2020 compared with 33% in the rest of the country.

The efforts of university students supplement the government’s attempts to fight malnutrition and stunting among young children in the areas that are otherwise considered the ‘food baskets’ of the country, according to Ndagijimana.

During their campaign in Burera, more than 500 community health workers were sensitised regarding the prevalent health issues, and at least 500 toilets were built, according to figures from URPHSA.

The teams also trained parents on preparing a balanced diet using one pot to minimise expenses and cooking time. Parents in the Burera district were also taught how to plant vegetables in what is known as a kitchen garden or akarima k’igikini in the local language.

Students from different faculties contribute

“All these efforts, it is our hope, will contribute to the decrease of malnutrition and contribute to health improvement. We hope that our support as students will contribute to the citizens’ welfare and will make our work easier once we graduate and start working as medical practitioners,” Ndagijimana said.

Joseph Karemera, the student guild president at CMHS, is happy that several associations have been formed in different faculties and that each is contributing to public health development.

“Before students are engaged in any activity, they first conduct research to identify gaps which [we can] address in the field. We are happy that we have been contributing to the improvement of social activities,” he said.

“For instance, students from the dental department were involved in checking for dental diseases and some people with dental problems were treated as part of the efforts. Others await treatment after they were advised to seek help,” he said.

Cecile Umunyana, vice-president of AVEH Umurerwa, a facility for children with disabilities in Bugesera district, said that the support received was immense and that they are grateful.

“Those students came to our school and checked for tooth diseases to know the status of the teeth of our children. They also trained our staff about mouth hygiene to prevent mouth disease. Students treated 22 children and referred four others for treatment,” she said.

“Now we know how to keep mouth hygiene in mind for our students and contribute to improved hygiene, and we hope to apply our new skills,” she added.

University provides project support

Innocent Nkusi, who is in charge of career guidance at the University of Rwanda’s Huye campus, said that students are assisted to implement their projects as part of giving back to the community.

“We usually receive action plans from students, and we include them in the budget. We prioritise those in line with the university-planned activities and provide a budget for them. We also help them in the planning process and follow up on the implementation,” he said.

Nkusi said that medical students have been helpful in fighting COVID-19 as they were on the frontline in different activities like evacuation, outreaches and campaigns to help raise awareness about the pandemic.

Many students from other programmes are also involved in different activities such as legal support and advice, he said.