Rwanda embraces TCM to aid healthcare

Commonly referred to as the “Land of a Thousand Hills”, Rwanda’s rolling terrain is as breathtaking as it is demanding. The green slopes that define its identity also define its daily challenges.

For many citizens, daily life means walking long distances along steep, winding mountain roads, an experience that, over time, often takes a toll on joints, muscles and overall physical well-being.

For Nsengiyumva Johan, 67, that slow erosion became painfully real.

What began as mild discomfort hardened into stiffness that crept through his body, tightening his movements and shrinking his independence. Simple routines like standing up, walking around, and even rising from bed became battles he could no longer win easily.

For a couple of years, he tried conventional medicine — pills, clinic visits, repeated consultations — but nothing worked.

“I felt like my body was locking itself. The stiffness became part of my life,” he recalled.

Nsengiyumva’s story is not isolated. While modern medicine has helped many patients manage symptoms, others say the improvement is only temporary, leaving them frustrated and emotionally drained after years of unsuccessful treatments.

For some, the struggle goes beyond the physical discomfort, affecting their ability to work, support their families and maintain a normal social life.

It is this lived reality that continues to drive patient demand at Masaka Hospital, one of Rwanda’s key referral facilities serving nearly 700,000 people across four districts surrounding Kigali City and beyond.

“Patients come from as far as neighboring countries including Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Jean Damascene Hanyurwimfura, director general of Masaka Hospital, said.

The hospital, originally built between 2009 and 2011 with a grant from the Chinese government, was designed to provide comprehensive care and serve as a training ground for Rwandan medical professionals alongside stationed Chinese medical teams.

Inside the hospital’s busy corridors in Kicukiro District, the powerful and the ordinary share the same space. Diplomats and senior government officials sit alongside ordinary citizens, all brought together by a common search for care.

Masaka is no longer just a district referral facility — it is steadily evolving into a regional medical hub where local needs meet international collaboration.

According to Hanyurwimfura, the transformation has been significantly reinforced by cooperation with the Chinese medical team, whose presence has expanded both capacity and capability.

The 19 professionals from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region supporting the operations are drawn from a wide range of specialties, including traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, dentistry, obstetrics and gynecology, anesthesiology, general surgery, internal medicine, orthopedics, nursing as well as translators, chefs and team leaders.

“The China medical team has significantly increased our clinical capacity by providing specialized expertise that allows us to treat a higher volume of patients while maintaining quality and precision,” he said.

That impact is tangible. It is visible in operating theaters, orthopedic wards and consultation rooms where complex cases are now being managed with greater confidence, efficiency and speed, while specialists continue to conduct outreach programs at the facility to provide free healthcare services to underserved communities.

At the heart of surgical and anesthesia services, Ndagijimana John Bernard, head of the department, described a system strengthened by shared practice and continuous learning between Rwandan and Chinese clinicians.

“I have gained valuable skills in specialized surgical suturing techniques, anesthesia management and the clinical application of traditional pain management methods,” he said.

In the wards, the collaboration is even more physical. Chinese doctors move side by side with Rwandan colleagues, examining patients, discussing diagnoses and jointly refining treatment plans that blend modern clinical science with complementary approaches.

Among them is Doctor Zhang Shengmao, the deputy head of the 26th Chinese medical team in Rwanda, who oversees specialist interventions introduced through the partnership, including TCM, which attracts almost half of the patients who visit the facility on a daily basis.

At the TCM center, more than 150 patients are treated regularly, with most seeking care for lower back pain, stiffness, and degenerative joint conditions.

Doctor Nirite, TCM team leader and acupuncture specialist at Masaka Hospital, noted that they use traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture to treat women who are unable to conceive.

“TCM is a holistic system developed over thousands of years, designed not only to treat symptoms, but to address underlying imbalances believed to cause illness,” he added.

One of its most recognized therapies, acupuncture, involves the insertion of very thin sterile needles into specific points on the body known as “acupoints”, mapped along meridians, or energy pathways, with the aim of restoring balance within the body.

Nirite said the diagnosis and treatment are guided by a structured approach that evaluates the patient’s overall body condition through a set of core assessment questions designed to identify imbalances affecting different organs and systems.

But it is the restoration of movement that often leaves the strongest impression, with clinicians noting that patients once unable to walk due to stiffness have gradually regained mobility and returned to their daily routines after treatment.

Yang Liying, a TCM specialist who deals with women, said patients typically receive between five and 20 needles per session.

The sensation is often described as mild tingling or dull pressure rather than sharp pain. A full treatment cycle can require six to eight sessions, especially for chronic conditions, she said.

Hanyurwimfura noted that patients have responded positively, particularly to acupuncture and improved surgical services, reflecting growing trust in the hospital’s expanded capabilities.

“Waiting times have shortened. Access to specialist care has widened and more patients are receiving treatment closer to home rather than traveling long distances in search of relief,” he noted.

For Serge Kimenyi, who arrived with stiff legs that limited his mobility, the change came quickly after just three sessions.

“I could feel my legs loosening,” he said.

Innovation at Masaka Hospital is not limited to outpatient care as the Chinese and Rwandan medical teams have jointly introduced integrated maternity care combining modern obstetrics with selected elements of TCM.

Supported through breathing techniques, relaxation methods and continuous physical and emotional care designed to reduce labor pain without heavy reliance on conventional painkillers, women have safely delivered under this approach.

Beyond clinical innovation, Hanyurwimfura emphasized that the partnership has become a cornerstone of skills transfer at Masaka Hospital.

Hands-on learning

Rwandan medical staff now work daily alongside Chinese specialists, building competence through hands-on learning while also contributing local knowledge in a continuous exchange of expertise.

For young professionals like Ishimwe Protogene, a midwifery graduate from the University of Rwanda employed since 2024, the experience has been transformative.

Working side by side with the Chinese team, he said, has strengthened both his technical ability and clinical confidence.

Similarly, Claudine Nyirakamana, currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in nursing, said that exposure to Nirite’s work has reshaped her ambitions and she is now considering advanced studies in TCM in China.

The collaboration extends beyond hospital walls, with outreach programs delivering screening, diagnosis and treatment to surrounding communities, alongside mentorship sessions that strengthen skills in surgical safety, emergency response and life support.

In the last three months, Zhang noted that the Chinese medics had completed more than 9,000 outpatient consultations and over 400 surgeries as well as carried out 30 teaching and training activities.

“In addition, we completed a donation of medical supplies to Masaka Hospital, including surgical beds, sterile instrument tables and other urgently needed medical equipment,” he said.

victor@chinadailyafrica.com