In 2012 Rwanda expanded legal grounds for abortion to include cases of rape, incest, forced marriage, the health of a pregnant person or fetus at risk, and for minors on request in 2018. The penal code limits abortion care to doctors in hospitals, impeding access for many women. We tested an intervention that provides first-trimester medication abortion at primary health centers, using telemedicine to connect nurses/midwives to doctors in district hospitals for authorization of services. We implemented a 15-month prospective study to assess the feasibility, effectiveness, safety, and...
Our long-time partner, Evangeline Dushimeyesu from the Rwanda Health Initiative for Youth and Women, highlighted our joint innovation—a telemedicine model for medication abortion—at the 2025 Transform Africa Summit this week. The work was featured prominently in a plenary session aligned with the conference theme, "AI for Africa: Innovate Locally, Impact...
UC Berkeley Bixby Center; RHIYW; Rwanda Biomedical Centre; Rwanda Society of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (RSOG)
Telemedicine provides a unique opportunity to improve abortion care in Rwanda by allowing for service provision at primary care level. Efficacy of medication abortion is well established in healthcare,yet research in Rwanda is still needed to determine the effectiveness and safety of management of first trimester medication abortion cases at health centers. While current services are only available in district hospitals, services at health centers would decrease referrals for first trimester medication abortion. This strategy will also reduce costs of service provision and address...
Telemedicine provides a unique opportunity to improve abortion care in Rwanda by allowing for service provision at primary care level. Efficacy of medication abortion is well established in healthcare,yet research in Rwanda is still needed to determine the effectiveness and safety of management of first trimester medication abortion cases at health centers. While current services are only available in district hospitals, services at health centers would decrease referrals for first trimester medication abortion. This strategy will also reduce costs of service...
Telemedicine provides a unique opportunity to increase access to abortion care in Rwanda by task-shifting the provision of medication abortion while still complying with law that states only medical doctors can authorize abortion services. In this project, nurses/midwives in public health centers in Musanze District are providing first trimester medication abortion services by using telemedicine to connect with district hospital doctors for authorization. This presentation will discuss how we are implementing a high tech project design in a low technology setting; providing critical...
Information, education and communication (IEC) campaign sample from a postabortion care (PAC) operations research project in Rwanda using the local Kinyarwanda language.
This brief summarizes the final results of a comprehensive postabortion care (PAC) pilot program conducted by the Rwanda Ministry of Health and VSI to address maternal deaths due to unsafe abortion. The results demonstrate that enabling mid-level providers at health centers to provide PAC through the integration of misoprostol as a treatment method increases the availability of PAC services and brings them closer to women.
Information, education and communication (IEC) campaign sample from a postabortion care (PAC) operations research project in Rwanda written using the local Kinyarwanda language.
Information, education and communication (IEC) campaign sample from a postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) operations research project in Rwanda using the local Kinyarwanda language.
Our long-time partner, Evangeline Dushimeyesu from the Rwanda Health Initiative for Youth and Women, highlighted our joint innovation—a telemedicine model for medication abortion—at the 2025 Transform Africa Summit this week. The work was featured prominently in a plenary session aligned with the conference theme, "AI for Africa: Innovate Locally, Impact...