Rwanda’s population was 10.5 million people in 2012 and is projected to increase by more than 50% to 17.6 million by 2035 and double to about 22.1 million people by 2050. Life expectancy increased in Rwanda from 48 years before 1994 to 70 in 2023. This represents the triumph of public health, medical advancement, and economic development over disease and injury, which have constrained human life expectancy to be improved.  By 2050, it is estimated that 10 percent of the population will be 60 years or older. The population aged 65 years will significantly increase. This pressure is already there and it will continue to be a challenge to health care and social security systems in the country if we do not adapt. There is a need for reinventing basic assistive actions to face the different challenges of the elders.

Older people are a wonderful resource for their families and communities and in the formal or informal workforce. They are a repository of knowledge. But on the opposite, many older persons are unaware of their rights and wrongly accept age discrimination as part of being old. Older persons are highly vulnerable to being neglected, isolated, and discriminated in accessing social services. They are often unable to maintain an adequate level of housing, sanitation, and clean drinking water, which is closely related to physical and mental well-being, and to the autonomy and dignity of a person.

The Rwandan Minister of Health at the 19th National Dialogue Council said that oral diseases are the main cause of Rwandans seeking medical treatment. They are caused by teeth uncleanness.  According to him brushing his regular teeth will reduce the medical doctor’s work.