Our work in Ethiopia

Our work in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has some of the lowest health indicators in the world. Most problems stem from infectious diseases and malnourishment associated with poverty.

These illnesses could be easily prevented. However, poor education, bad infrastructure, lack of safe water and sanitation, and inadequate health care mean that preventable illnesses too often prove fatal in Ethiopia.

However, there are signs of improvement. Ethiopia is one of the few countries to have recognized the importance of community health workers, who provide vital basic health care and education in rural areas.

Major health challenges

The Ethiopian health system is suffering from a human resource crisis. The World Health Organization has warned that there are not enough doctors and health workers to care for the country’s 75 million people. Many trained health staff are also migrating overseas or leaving to work in the private sector.

The quality of health care in Ethiopia is undermined by weak referral systems and difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff. Health centers also suffer from regular shortages of medicine and laboratory equipment.

It is especially difficult to deliver health care to groups such as women and children who live far away from health facilities, towns, or even roads. Many ethnic minorities and nomadic groups are very hard to reach.

Hasena's Story

Health problems like HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and water-borne diseases are undermining the Ethiopian workforce, keeping people from earning and ultimately lowering productivity levels.

The scope of our work in Ethiopia

  • Training health workers among the nomadic pastoralist groups in South Omo and providing mobile health clinics along migratory routes
  • Training specialist health workers in hospitals around the country
  • Supporting women affected by HIV/AIDS in Kechene slum in Addis Ababa, by providing loans and business training. The project also promotes HIV prevention and reduces stigma attached to HIV/AIDS
  • Reducing malaria in the remote region of Afar through the distribution of 90,000 mosquito nets and community sessions using culturally-specific picture-based educational materials
  • Reducing water-borne diseases in Kechene slum through the provision of clean water, showers, and toilets
  • Improving health education, awareness, and promotion of trachoma prevention practices in Afar

Ethiopia key health statistics

  • Eighty-five percent of the population live in rural areas where it is more difficult to access health care.
  • Although 92% of the population has potential access to health care, only a third actually use health services.
  • Sixty percent of health workers leave their job within a year, many abandoning the public sector for better paid posts in the private sector.
  • Infant mortality levels are 77 for every 1000 live births.
  • Child mortality or deaths before the age of five are 123 per 1,000 live births.
  • Less than a quarter of the population has access to safe water.

Learning from the community

In almost every case where we have intervened to solve community health problems, we learned that the community itself had the answer to many of its own problems.