Dear Colleagues,
It is my honor to present to you the second volume of the Rwanda Public Health Bulletin (RPHB) with its first issue of March 2020. I would like to express my appreciation for your continued interest in the Rwanda Public Health Bulletin content.
This issue is released in a period when the world is responding to the novel coronavirus pandemic outbreak (COVID-19). Since December 2019, the spread of COVID-19 is on a continuous rise and is globally claiming lives. Unfortunately, Rwanda is not immune to this global threat and is currently working to effectively respond and contain the outbreak. You might have noticed that early this year, the government of Rwanda started to implement different prevention measures including placing hand washing stations in public places, establishing response plans. With the current situation where neither a cure nor a vaccine is available, it is important for the Rwandan public health community and overall health care workers to be well informed on the current prevention measures implemented and outbreak management in Rwanda.
This issue is dedicated to Rwanda’s approach to control and respond to COVID-19. The content covers the role of the media in managing the outbreak, a brief overview on Rwanda’s preparedness strategies, the Rwanda’s current overall COVID-19 outbreak situation, and finally on health care workers’ level of knowledge and practices on COVID-19. As your read this issue, I would like to remind you that each of us is called to play a role in responding to this outbreak: In your respective hospitals and other areas of work, I ask that you support the response team by using the information provided on this platform to demystify rumors and non-evidence information circulating through different non-professional platforms in the general population.
The issue comes with innovations and better visibility of the bulletin and published materials inform you of the current situation of the disease outbreak in Rwanda. The issue is available online at www.rwandapublichealthbulletin.org
I wish you a pleasant reading.
Stay healthy, stay safe and stay at home.
