Humanitarian Aid in Ethiopia - Healthcare
OUR WORK IN ETHIOPIA
Investing in Life-Saving Facilities & Services
Health and medical care in Ethiopia is some of the most dismal in the world. The majority of Ethiopia's population lives in rural areas where access to healthcare ranges from limited to non-existent. It is not surprising that 80% of illnesses and deaths in Ethiopia are due to preventable communicable and nutritional diseases, with malaria and HIV/AIDS at the forefront. Hardest hit are women of child-bearing years and children.
Our program, in collaboration with local and regional governments, focuses on the improvement of health indicators in three key areas:
- Increased access to healthcare services by 70% in targeted regions
- Improved doctor-to-patient ratio
- Decreased maternal and child death and disease rates
Related Articles
• Read our press release
• Read the article from the Keene Sentinel
Medical Mission
Click the photo to view a slideshow from the Medical Mission
We are delighted to announce the expansion of our medical focus in Ethiopia to include physician-led medical missions. Led by WHFC adoptive dad Dr. Fletcher Wilson and Dr. Stephan Coffman of New Hampshire, these missions will perform surgeries, and provide in-country physician training, as well as equipment and supply procurement in both Tigray and the SNNPR. A key component will include training of traditional birth attendants and mid-wives in life-saving maternal services and procedures including the treatment of hemorrhaging and pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure).
Currently, the medical mission program is beginning in the north in November 2008 and is scheduled to begin in the south in the Spring of 2009. Dr. Wilson's vision is to coordinate as many as four tours in both the north and the south. Initially, the focus will be on immediate need, however, by offering regular surgical services the hope is to encourage more local surgeons to stay in these areas because of the improved training and equipment that the missions will ensure.
Our current goal is to raise $50,000 for equipment and supply purchases, and subsidization of Ethiopian medical professionals. In addition, we are looking to raise $60,000 for urgently needed ambulances to help transport rural residents to the hospital and save lives.
Adua Comprehensive Health Center, Northern Region
Adua is a woreda, or administrative district, where 97% of the local population lives in poverty. The consequences of this high poverty-level are devastating. One in sixteen women die due to pregnancy or child birth, and their orphaned children are 10 times more likely to die within two years than a child living with two parents. Access to curative and preventative health services for mothers and children are urgently needed in Adwa. There is currently one district hospital, which is so overcrowded that expectant mothers are often forced to deliver in the corridors. Other women facing complications during delivery are unable to traverse the poorly built roads in time to make it to the hospital and die in the arms of those carrying them.
The urgent need for a new medical facility was identified through collaboration with our Ethiopia country representative, Dr. Tsegaye, and governments from the regional and local levels. WHFC has committed to funding the construction of the clinic and the regional health bureau will equip and staff the facility. The local community will contribute 10% through free labor and materials. WHFC will also remain involved in ensuring future resources for optimizing ongoing operations. Approximately US$250,000 is needed urgently for the clinic's construction.
It is estimated that the clinic will increase access to healthcare by 70% to the region's more than 1 million inhabitants, thereby decreasing the number of maternal and child deaths.
Leku District Hospital Construction, Southern Region
In response to an urgent request, WHFC funded a medical clinic focused on mother and child health in Shebedino, a region in Sidama of approximately 240,000 people. The aims of the project were to increase health coverage; decrease infant mortality; increase family planning services; and improve the overall quality of the care provided to this underserved population.
The project was completed in two phases: Construction of the maternal and child clinic, followed by funding for essential medical equipment and materials as well as staff training. Since the completion of the clinic, there have been no reported maternal deaths - a huge accomplishment for Ethiopia! The completion of the clinic was also a critical step in providing pre-natal and post-natal services and reducing infant and child mortality for the regional population. All children enrolled in the Sidama sponsorship program receive free medical care at this clinic.
WHFC is now planning to expand the clinic into a hospital. The clinic does not have the capacity to provide c-sections and emergency surgeries (such as an appendectomy). If a woman needs a c-section she is referred to a hospital 27 kilometers south. Rather than walk that distance, most women return to their homes to die. Expanding the clinic to a hospital will enable surgeries to be performed, provide health services to a larger population, and further reduce the maternal and child death rates.
