Stunted linear growth continues to be a public health problem that overwhelms the entire world and, particularly, developing countries. Despite several interventions designed and implemented to reduce stunting, the rate of 33.1% is still high for the proposed target of 19% in 2024. This study investigated the prevalence and associated factors of stunting among children aged 6–23 months from poor households in Rwanda. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 817 mother–child dyads (two individuals from one home) living in low-income families in five districts with a high prevalence of stunting. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the prevalence of stunting. In addition, we used bivariate analysis and a multivariate logistic regression model to measure the strength of the association between childhood stunting and exposure variables. The prevalence of stunting was 34.1%. Children from households without a vegetable garden (AOR = 2.165, p-value < 0.01), children aged 19–23 months (AOR = 4.410, p-value = 0.01), and children aged 13–18 months (AOR = 2.788, p-value = 0.08) showed increased likelihood of stunting. On the other hand, children whose mothers were not exposed to physical violence (AOR = 0.145, p-value < 0.001), those whose fathers were working (AOR = 0.036, p-value = 0.001), those whose parents were both working (AOR = 0.208, p-value = 0.029), and children whose mothers demonstrated good hand washing practice (AOR = 0.181, p-value < 0.001) were less likely to be stunted. Our findings underscore the importance of integrating the promotion of handwashing practices, owning vegetable gardens, and intimate partner violence prevention in the interventions to fight child stunting.

Hazards resulting from climate change jeopardize human in one way or another. Annually countless deaths, physical injuries, and the collapse of houses, among other consequences, are reported as negative effects associated to climate change events. There is no doubt that these effects are followed by mental health problems which requires the continuation of care after the emergency situation. This paper aimed at highlighting how climate change hazards in Rwanda might be followed by unidentified mental health illness, and proposed a model for proper management. The authors reviewed different literatures to inform their views about the issue and appreciate the efforts being done by the Government to manage immediate mental health problems resulting from climate change hazards for the victims. The authors suggested the need for the continuation of mental health care services after an emergency and that these services be provided by Community Health Workers who live day to day with victims. This will benefit not only the victims but also other people who might be having mental health issues within the community. The Authors recommend further research to document the impact of climate change on mental health and magnitude of the problem in Rwanda.

In 2018, rural residents of northern Rwanda raised water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) access and availability as a community concern; however, no baseline information was available to prioritize communities for intervention. This study aimed to assess WASH for people and animals in four cells in Butaro Sector and to identify the cell with the lowest WASH access. This cross-sectional, quantitative study utilized telephone surveys to collect data. Households were randomly selected, and 539 male and female heads-of-household agreed to participate. Overall, 56.8% of households reported access to safe drinking water, but this differed significantly by cell (p&lt;0.001). Approximately half (54.2%) of respondents walked 30 min or longer to fetch water, travelling one or more times per day. Nearly all (98.5%) households reported the presence of sanitation infrastructure, most often a pit latrine. Across cells, animals experienced poorer access to clean water and sanitation than people. One cell, Gatsibo, reported the poorest overall access to WASH services. Multi-sector collaboration among public health, water authorities, and local leaders is needed to reduce travel times for fetching water and to ensure that all residents can access sufficient safe water to meet the health and hygiene needs of people and animals.

Background: Online bibliographic databases are important tools in health sector for both literature research and clinical practices. They provide current scientific insight for evidence based medicine and have the potential to support clinicians by providing them with the information they need in a timely fashion. Objective: This study was carried out to assess the utilization of online bibliographic databases by medical doctors at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali. Methods: A mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) with a crosssectional design was used. Results: The study population was composed of 153 medical doctors and response rate was 53.5 %. The results of this study indicate that the most visited online bibliographic database is the Medline at the rate of 94% (N=82). More than 92% (N=82) of physicians at this hospital have computers with internet in their offices. Only 47.6% are able to use filters when they searching information to guide treatment. Physicians at the rate of 97.6 % (N=80) have used online bibliographic databases in the past six months and 96% (N=80) were satisfied with their expectations. The constraints they face when searching information, is lack of full access to some scientific medical journals. A key informant said: "The challenge is that some medical journals provide only abstracts. In this case it is not easy for physicians to access full papers or full books to find information for patient care" Conclusion: The study concludes that physicians at University Teaching Hospital of Kigali use online bibliographic databases to guide treatment and Medline/Pubmed are the most used database. Nevertheless, there is gap in advanced searching skills among physicians. In terms of infrastructures the quality of internet bandwidth is another challenge. The study recommends continued sessions for literature search, as it is a key to practicing evidence-based medicine. It also recommends ensuring full access to scientific papers as well as good internet service delivery.

Background The use of modern technology in healthcare system aims to increase the reliability, accessibility and productivity of delivered services. In most developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) has been dominated by paper-based system. In Rwanda, EMRs started in 2011 with a baseline of 8% and reached 50% in 2017 within 516 health facilities, but patient data synchronization among health facilities is still a problem. The aim of this research was to identify factors hindering EMRs implementation and propose applied solutions. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study design with qualitative and quantitative approach was used. A purposive method to select the research participants among the target population was also used. Results It was found that, despite the improvement of hospitals' management and healthcare efficiency via EMRs system, factors affecting synchronization of patients' data among health facilities still persist. The study also revealed the need for the interoperability in the integration of EMRs system among health facilities. Conclusion The OpenMRS EMR-based data synchronization can reduce gaps in HIV care. It avoids a duplication of patient identification number (PID) at the same health facility for more than one visit and missing data among health facilities. As part of implementable solutions for effective service delivery, cloud-based server and patient identification were suggested as solutions for much more success in Open MRS EMRs system.