TIME, a global media brand, has unveiled the 2025 TIME100 Next list, honoring one hundred emerging leaders from across the globe who are shaping the future and defining the next generation of leadership.
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Among those recognized is Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, Rwanda’s Minister of Health.
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Dr Nsanzimana, who has been at the helm of the health ministry since November 2022, was celebrated as one of the change makers redefining progress, influence, and impact in the modern world.
In reflecting on Rwanda’s health journey, he emphasized the critical markers that define success.
“If you want to quickly learn how a country’s health system is doing, you only have to look at two indicators: maternal and child mortality.
Over the past 25 years, Rwanda has made stunning improvements on these metrics,” he said.
Rwanda’s maternal mortality ratio, which stood at 203 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020, has fallen to 105 per 100,000 in the latest Annual Health Statistics 2024.
Similarly, neonatal mortality has dropped from 19 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2020 to 11 per 1,000 in 2024.
Dr Nsanzimana added that the ministry remains determined to push those numbers even lower, “because everyone deserves to survive childbirth and childhood.”
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Global health leaders have also taken notice
Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation who wrote Dr. Nsanzimana’s bio for TIME, noted that the minister led Rwanda’s response to the 2024 Marburg outbreak, which he described as a textbook example of effective epidemic containment.
“He knows proven solutions shouldn’t sit on a shelf collecting dust: they need to reach as many people as possible, as soon as possible,” wrote Suzman.
“As Minister of Health, he has prioritized exactly that, helping tens of thousands of pregnant women receive multiple micronutrient supplements to help them and their babies during the critical perinatal period.”
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An epidemiologist by training, Dr Nsanzimana previously headed the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, led the University Teaching Hospital of Butare (CHUB), and managed Rwanda’s national HIV and hepatitis programs.
He holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Basel, is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and lectures in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Rwanda.
With over 230 scientific publications to his name, Nsanzimana has also spearheaded major clinical trials and multi-country research collaborations that continue to influence global health policy.
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TIME’s Editor in Chief, Sam Jacobs, explained that the TIME100 Next list of the World’s Most Influential Rising Stars, first introduced six years ago, was designed to expand the lens of influence beyond traditional leadership.
“Our mission has remained consistent: to use the TIME100 as a lens to better understand our world, and to guide our role as a key chronicler of leadership. To do that, we’ve taken a wider perspective on influence, and taken deep dives into the worlds of AI, climate, creators, health, and philanthropy,” he said.
