RCE History

The East African Community (EAC) established the Regional Centre of Excellence for Vaccines, Immunizations and Health Supply Chain Management (EAC RCE-VIHSCM) at the University of Rwanda in Kigali, to transform the medical and health sciences, bio-engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, eHealth and eLearning and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), as well as research and health care delivery. The Centre was created through the following instruments;

Zanzibar, April 2014: EAC/SCM/Health/Decision/024: 9th Ordinary Meeting of the EAC Sectoral Council of Ministers of Health approves and proposes a “Multi-National East African Community Regional Centers of Excellence (RCE) for Skills and Tertiary Education in Higher Medical and Health Sciences Education Program”

Arusha, September 2014: EAC /CM/Decision/035: 29th Ordinary Meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers approved the setup and the implementation arrangements of the EAC RCE-VIHSCM.

Consequently, the EAC Secretariat and key stakeholders officially launched the EAC RCE-VIHSCM at University of Rwanda (UR) on 24 March 2016. Following the launch, the RCE started to deliver on its mandate by enhancing capacity and strengthening systems along the health supply chain to deliver quality vaccines, pharmaceuticals and health commodities at an affordable cost and at the right time.

The RCE has since built capacity and strengthened systems through training and research. The training includes short- and long-term training programs that target professionals employed in key positions in various government ministries, departments and agencies in EAC Partner States.