Partners In Health (PIH) has announced its plans for a $200 million scholarship fund for students attending the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) in Rwanda. 

The fund, which is part of a $92 million commitment by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CRI Foundation, and other donors, will cover the tuition, room, board, and expenses of 3,000 medical students and global health delivery degree candidates over the next 25 years. The Gates Foundation has committed $50 million to the fund. Announced during the 2022 Clinton Global Initiative, the fund is named in honor of PIH co-founder Paul Farmer, who passed away in February while teaching at UGHE.

UGHE admissions are transparent, equity-based, and highly selective; roughly 6 percent of applicants are accepted. At UGHE, the majority-female student body learns practical approaches to delivering health care in impoverished settings. Half of the university’s graduates go on to work directly with rural communities, women and girls, or other vulnerable populations. 

“Everyone everywhere deserves quality medical care,” said Gates Foundation co-chair Melinda French Gates. “Providing women equal access to medical careers and opportunities to lead is critical to making meaningful progress in global health. UGHE’s work to develop new generations of African doctors who deeply understand the communities they’ll serve will enhance care from high-tech surgical suites to rural homes.”

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