Rwandan govt inaugurates $10mn vaccine warehouse in Kigali’s SEZ

Rwandan Ministry of Health inaugurated a new vaccination program building which will enhance the country's capacity to store vaccines.

The Ministry of Health has collaborated with GAVI Alliance and other partners to officially launch the new vaccination program office and a warehouse. The warehouse has been inaugurated at the Special Economic Zone in Kigali at a cost of around Rwf1.7 billion (USD 10.4 million). It is the result of longstanding partnership between Government and Gavi.

The building, with cold chain equipment, will help the ministry of health to ensure proper storage of vaccines, Jean Pierre Nyemazi, permanent secretary in the ministry of health, told an inauguration ceremony. Vaccination coverage in Rwanda for common infectious vaccine-preventable diseases stands at 95 percent for children below five years. The government is committed to reaching 100 percent vaccination coverage, Nyemazi opined.

The Director General of Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Jeanine Condo, extolled GAVI for its support to the country’s vaccination program. She highlighted that the complex was built through the Performance Based Financing grant awarded to Rwanda for good vaccination coverage, as reported by The New Times.

“We have been spending over four million Francs monthly on the warehouse rental. But now that we have our own warehouse, this money will be reallocated to other tasks such as training or the construction of other buildings,” Nyemazi added.

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