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COVID-19 is a threat to health systems around the world and Rwanda is not an exception. The impact of the pandemic is far-reaching and access to health commodities is not spared. Proper drug supply is critical for a robust healthcare system. It determines the extent at which the population are likely to have access to essential medicines and treatments. In Rwanda, the pharmaceutical sector heavily relies on imports. With the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic, the drug supply system was interrupted leaving many stores from small local pharmacies to the big medical stores running out of stock. The reasons were limited importation of goods from abroad, and the panic buying practice among the customers and some institutions when responding to the pandemic. Drug and medicines accessibility, availability and affordability should be the core of any drug management policy. It is with no doubt that, Rwanda has made a tremendous work to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 on the country's drug supply; however, efforts are still needed to invest in local pharmaceutical production as a way to minimize import expenses in the country. Good policy on drug importation, production and distribution should be enforced to avoid any drug shortage that may be encountered in the Rwandan drug market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: antimicrobial resistance (AR) is on a rise as one of the major global public health threats. It is therefore important to assess contributory factors to the rise in the cases of resistance reported. The main objective of this study was to assess the self-medication practices with antibiotics among the University of Rwanda students in Huye Campus. Methods: a sample of 570 students from all levels and colleges of the University of Rwanda in Huye Campus were selected using a simple random sampling to participate in this study. A questionnaire was administered to be answered individually by the consented respondents where the self-medication practices with antibiotics in the past 6 months were assessed. The results were statistically analyzed using SPSS v.16. Results: the study showed that 12.1% (n=69) practiced self-medication with antibiotics. The major reason for self-medication with antibiotics was illness not serious to have a consultation (50.72%). The main diseases being treated were common cold/fever/cough (47.83%). The most used antibiotic for self-medication was Amoxicillin capsules (59.42%), while the main source of antibiotics was the community pharmacy (72.42%). Conclusion: self-medication with antibiotics is not uncommon among the university students. Regarding the main reasons of self-medication with antibiotics, diseases being treated, and the antibiotics used, it was found that all these may be related to the students' lack of knowledge about the need for rational use of antibiotics and a study was needed to confirm it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of mortality globally. Hypertension is a known modifiable risk factor for CVD. Diagnosis and management of hypertension hinges upon accurate blood pressure (BP) measurement. In this study, we assessed performance to recommended guidelines for BP measurement in Rwanda. In 2017, a cross-sectional study investigating performance on 11 techniques recommended for BP measurement was undertaken across outpatient settings of 3 departments at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali, Rwanda. Performance was checked by an inside observer. The study enrolled 164 patients. The overall mean performance on the 11 BP measurement techniques was 5.69 (±1.02) out of the 11 possible points. There was no significant difference in performance across departments (P = .28). The findings suggest that performance on currently recommended guidelines for BP measurement is not optimal. Going forward, it is important to implement interventions that will enhance performance given that diagnosis and management of hypertension depend upon accurate BP measurement., (©2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)