Rwanda. A byword for mayhem and darkest Africa, right? Well, once up on a time. But the latest news from Rwanda is that the improvement in its healthcare statistics are so good that it might export its systems to the United States.
According to Neil Emery, writing in The Atlantic, “the reinvention of Rwanda offers hope. Since the genocide with which its name is still synonymous in the United States, Rwanda has doubled its life expectancy and now offers a replicable model for delivery of high quality health care with limited resources.”
The improvements are stunning. “Over the last decade in Rwanda, deaths from HIV, TB, and malaria dropped by 80 percent, maternal mortality dropped by 60 percent, life expectancy doubled -- all at an average health care cost of $55 per person per year.”
If only Mississippi or Maine could do that!