Rwanda’s first JBI Collaborating Entity

Recently the JBI Collaboration welcomed a new member and the first Collaborating Entity from Rwanda: Center for Global Health Equity Evidence. 

Rwanda is one of the smallest countries on the African mainland and is landlocked in the Great Rift Valley where the African Great Lakes region and East Africa converge. Rwanda is often referred to as le pays de mille collines (land of a thousand hills).

Professor Tim Carey, convenor of the newly established Rwandan group, is familiar with JBI and the JBI Collaboration as he was previously the director of The Centre for Remote Health: A JBI Affiliated Group in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia. Prof Carey speaks about the focus and goals he has for the Rwandan entity: 

Africa as a continent is an increasingly important contributor to knowledge about global health. We here at the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), Centre for Global Health Equity (GHEE), propose to contribute further to this through research and, in particular, through JBI systematic reviews. 

The ultimate goal is to achieve a better understanding of the most effective and efficient ways to eradicate health inequities throughout the region, Africa and globally, and we believe this can be accomplished through our commitment to synthesising and advancing knowledge in the areas of education and training, clinical practices, technologies and interventions, health services and systems, and policy. I am fortunate that my colleagues have expertise in medicine; nursing and midwifery; microbiology; biological sciences; pharmacology; One Health; gender and diversity; executive education; quality in education; pedagogy; mental health; adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights; and reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health, and can therefore positively affect health inequity in a number of disciplines.

UGHE has strong collaborative relationships with the Government of Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, National Council of Nurses and Midwives of Rwanda and other academic institutions, such as the University of Rwanda, as well as NGOs like Partners in Health. Prof Carey views these already well-established relationships as a means for GHEE to effectively improve services by providing stakeholders with the latest synthesised evidence in specific areas of global health equity. Prof Carey states, ‘We see that through clear and measurable outputs we will enhance the education and training experiences of students, as well as improve health services further afield’.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reminds us that reducing health inequities is vital because, ‘health is a fundamental human right and its progressive realisation will eliminate inequalities that result from differences in health status (such as disease or disability) in the opportunity to enjoy life and pursue one’s life plans’. We thank Prof Carey and his colleagues for focusing on such important work and we look forward to collaborating with the Center as it makes a positive impact locally, nationally and globally.