Overview & History

Founded: 2012

Origin: Established through a partnership between Population Services International (PSI), the Government of Rwanda, and USAID.

Nature: Non-profit health organization working in social marketing, healthcare products, behaviour change, and clinical and community services.

Mission and Core Functions

SFH Rwanda’s mission is to improve health outcomes for Rwandans, especially vulnerable groups, by:

Increasing access to life-saving health products

Providing clinical services

Promoting social and behaviour change communications (SBCC) to foster healthy behaviours

They operate through public-private partnerships and often adopt market-based approaches to distribute health products.

Key Program Areas

SFH Rwanda integrates product distribution, communication, outreach, and clinical services across multiple health sectors:

Area Activities & Services
Family Planning & Reproductive Health Contraceptive distribution; outreach; adolescent health; integrating reproductive health with HIV prevention.
HIV/AIDS Prevention & Treatment HIV prevention products; testing and screening; prevention of mother-to-child transmission.
Malaria Control & Prevention Insecticide-treated net distribution; behaviour change campaigns; support for indoor residual spraying.
Safe Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Distribution of water treatment products (e.g. Sur’Eau, PUR); safe water and sanitation education.
Maternal, Child Health & Nutrition Maternal health services; nutritional behaviour change communication.
Health Systems Strengthening, M&E & Research Program monitoring; evaluation; evidence-based decision making in partnership with government systems.
Partnerships & Collaborations

SFH Rwanda works closely with:

Government of Rwanda (especially the Ministry of Health and National Youth Council)

International donors and agencies such as USAID and the Gates Foundation

Private sector partners including SC Johnson and Takeda

Foundations and NGOs supporting malaria, reproductive health, and health systems strengthening initiatives

Recent & Notable Projects

Malaria Initiatives: Grants to support national and regional malaria conferences and interventions.

Health Post Upgrades: With private sector support, upgrading 20 health posts to “Second-Generation Health Posts” to improve access in remote communities.

Community Health Partnerships: Programs with private companies to expand malaria prevention, testing, and community health worker support.

Strengths & Challenges

Strengths

Wide program coverage across health sectors

Strong focus on social marketing and behaviour change

Effective public-private partnerships

Presence across regions, reaching many communities

Challenges

Serving very remote or underserved areas

Ensuring sustainability and quality of services

The slow process of driving long-term behaviour change

Heavy reliance on donor funding