About
The Heart Care and Research Foundation is the realisation of Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub’s vision to extend high quality cardiothoracic health care to low income populations across Africa. This vision has led to the establishment of Heart Centres including the Cardiac Centre Ethiopia and the Aswan Heart Centre, Egypt. Both these hospitals have been operational as NGO hospitals since 2009 and have collectively treated over 40,000 patients since inception, free of charge to the population.
The Rwanda Heart Care and Research Foundation has been working with Julia Backhaus from Flux Architects who has been volunteering her time and expertise for the design and creation of the hospital.
The Rwanda Heart Care and Research Foundation will equip a 30 bed state-of- the-art hospital and research facility. The Foundation has been allocated a four hectare plot of land on the Masaka site in Kigali by the Rwandan government. It is envisaged to be an integral part of the Rwandan healthcare city which is being planned in this area of Masaka, next to the existing Masaka Hospital, the future University of Global Health Equity and the future relocation of the University of Kigali.
“The Rwanda Heart Care and Research Foundation will offer state of the art, free of charge medical services particularly for the under-privileged, whilst training a generation of young doctors, nurses and scientists at the highest international standards. Advancing basic science and applied research will be an integral component of the Rwandan programme in development.”
Professor Sir Magdi Yacoubi
‘People helping one another can bring an elephant into the house.’
Rwanda Proverb
The Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD) from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has signed an agreement to donate the equipment of the hospital with two cardiac theatres, a catheter lab, nine fully equipped Intensive Care beds, six progressive care beds and 15 ward beds.
Within the framework of Egypt’s pioneering role in promoting sustainable development in vital sectors across the African continent, and in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, particularly Goal 3: “Good Health and Well- being,” Egypt reaffirms its commitment to strengthening its relations with African countries through strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing the quality of healthcare services.
In line with this vision, and as a reflection of its pivotal role, the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development has actively contributed to the establishment of the The Heart Care and Research Foundation Rwanda/ Rwanda – Egypt Heart Centre in Kigali, as part of its efforts to bolster healthcare services within the continent. The agency’s contribution involved the provision of modern medical equipment required by the center, executed in two phases through collaboration with “Siemens Healthineers Egypt” and “Healthcare Medical”, for the supply of advanced medical equipment.
This partnership underscores Egypt’s dedication to sharing technical expertise necessary to advance the healthcare system in Rwanda, thereby ensuring the delivery of high – quality medical services to patients, particularly in the field of cardiac care. This initiative exemplifies Egypt’s ongoing commitment to fostering healthcare cooperation with African nations and highlights its dedication to promoting medical and developmental integration in alignment with its vision of consolidating stability and prosperity in Africa, particularly in this case for the lives of heart patients in the region.
