Truly remarkable numbers from Rwanda

it is an increasingly well known fact that Rwanda today has the highest proportion of female civil servants in the world. 

Life expectancy climbed from 28 years in 1994 to 56 years in 2012.

In June 2012, 108 113 people with advanced HIV disease in Rwanda were receiving antiretroviral therapy, making Rwanda (along with much richer Botswana) one of only two countries in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve the United Nations goal of universal access to antiretroviral therapy.

As of June 2012, 90.6% of the population was enrolled, while another 7% are covered by civil service, military, or private insurance plans.

Rwanda was among the first countries to integrate the rotavirus, pneumococcal, and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines into its national immunisation system, achieving greater than 93% coverage for each of nine vaccines (rotavirus data are not yet available). This includes 93.2% coverage for all three doses of the HPV vaccine among eligible girls in 2011; by contrast, less than a quarter of eligible girls in the United States have received a complete series.

Mortality associated with HIV disease fell by 78.4% (the greatest reduction in the world during that timeframe) and mortality from tuberculosis by 77.1% (the greatest decline in Africa). From 2005 to 2011, deaths from malaria dropped by 87.3%. Between 2000 and 2010 the country’s maternal mortality ratio fell by 59.5%. The probability that a child dies by the age of 5 years decreased by 70.4% between 2000 and 2011—falling below half of the regional average and approaching the global mean (fig 2⇓).

Life expectancy (had) remained the lowest in the world from 1989 to 1997. 

The authors credit the central government and the Ministry of Health with much of this success.  I think this is right.  Rwanda serves as a strong counterpoint to those who would argue that socioeconomic factors affect governance and not vice versa.  The causality runs both ways.

It is also interesting to note the association between that first fact (Rwanda's high proportion of female civil servants) and Rwanda's highly effective and honest civil service.