Rwanda’s defence and security institutions have joined forces with the Ministry of Health and the Fred Hollows Foundation Rwanda to bring specialist eye care to vulnerable citizens who would otherwise have little hope of accessing it.
The Rwanda Defence Force and the Rwanda National Police launched a provincial eye care and cataract surgery campaign at Kinihira Provincial Hospital in Rulindo District, Northern Province, under the Defence and Security Citizen Outreach Programme, DSCOP 2026.
The initiative targets elderly citizens aged 50 and above, who bear a disproportionate burden of preventable blindness in Rwanda largely because specialist ophthalmic care remains out of reach for much of the rural population.
Cataracts are among the leading causes of blindness globally, yet a surgical procedure lasting under thirty minutes can restore functional sight.
The barrier for millions across sub-Saharan Africa is not medical complexity but access. This campaign is designed to close that gap.
The launch was attended by the Governor of the Northern Province, Maurice Mugabowagahunde; the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Jean Marie Vianney Ndayizigiye; Brigadier General Dr John Nkurikiye, Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Health Services; Assistant Commissioner of Police Teddy Ruyenzi, Commander of Community Policing; and Tiva Kananura, Country Director of the Fred Hollows Foundation Rwanda, alongside local leaders and residents.
The DSCOP programme uses the organisational reach of Rwanda’s security forces to deliver services in areas where civilian infrastructure alone has struggled to penetrate.
For the elderly residents of Rulindo District and the wider Northern Province, the launch marks the beginning of what organisers hope will be a sustained effort to restore sight to those who have lived with treatable blindness simply because the right care was never within reach.
