Beneficiaries of the Genocide Survivors Assistance Fund (FARG) say they are unable to access medicine from pharmacies using their health insurances, as was the case before the expiry of contracts the funding institution had signed with over 30 pharmacies countrywide.

About seven months back, FARG beneficiaries used to get medical services from all public hospitals in the country using their health insurance, but since October last year, this service has been put on hold.

FARG said that the service was put on hold because they had to come up with new contracts and add new partner pharmacies since the ones before were few compared with the number of beneficiaries across the country.

Some of the beneficiaries told Rwanda Today that they are unable to access drugs for treatment and most are incurring extra costs because of having to buy the medicine from private facilities, which is unaffordable to many.

One of the beneficiaries told his paper that she suffers from diabetes and for the past five months she has gone without medication yet she requires regular treatment.

“When the institution informed us that the contracts it had with partner pharmacies had expired, we were told to go for medication at the Kanombe Military hospital, which resulted in delays of between two to three months without being treated,” she said.

“I think the delays resulted from the fact that all FARG beneficiaries were seeking medication from the same hospital,” she added.

However, she thanked the institution for having considered patients suffering from chronic diseases by allowing them to come directly to the institution for financial support for their medication as they work on finalising contracts with the pharmacies.

In a recent interview with Theophile Ruberangeyo, Director-General of FARG, he said the issue is being worked on and will be resolved soon.

“The institution is seeking to improve the quality of services offered to beneficiaries,” he said.