Fortune News | Jan 07,2022
When the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic brought to the fore the urgency of health services to Ethiopia, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) did not waste time calling for health professionals to serve their country. It was a move that is now being rescinded as the government's response to the virus is readjusted toward the treatment of cases at home instead of treatment centres.
When the Prime Minister's announcement arrived in March, the nation's health professionals did not disappoint. No less than 23,000 health professionals responded, going on to be employed in quarantine and health centres. About a sixth of these were hired on a contractual basis, addressing the paradoxical circumstance of health professional unemployment in a country that direly lacks doctors. This was short-lived. The isolation centres are closing up as the Ministry of Health has begun to lean on self-care at home as an alternative means of treatment.
It has left the country with a unique set of circumstances. On the one side is a lack of employment opportunities for doctors. On the other is one of the lowest ratios of health professionals in the world. The outcome is that Ethiopia has a high incidence of infectious diseases as well as a rising prevalence of non-communicable illnesses such as diabetes.
The discrepancy is explained through a combination of planning, administration and budgetary failures, according to those who know the sector well. Despite being one of the countries in Africa that have pledged to contribute 15pc annual spending to health services, the government is only currently meeting a third of that. Complicating this factor is a language requirement by regional health bureaus that has effectively narrowed down the choices of fresh graduates. Neither is the matter helped by the fact that increasing numbers of doctors are graduating from universities without a corresponding rise in budgeting for health services.
The administration of Prime Minister Abiy is looking for ways to increase funding and engage the private sector to fill the gap, according to Lia Tadesse (MD), minister of Health. But if such options are exhausted, the nuclear option is exporting health professionals instead of allowing their training to go to waste. Health experts that know the sector believe that this should be a matter of last resort and that realigning the outputs between the health and education sectors with spending in these areas is an urgent matter.
You can read the full story here
PUBLISHED ON
Oct 31,2020 [ VOL
21 , NO
1070]
Fortune News | Jan 07,2022
Life Matters | Aug 21,2021
Viewpoints | May 29,2021
Commentaries | Oct 07,2023
Radar |
Agenda | Feb 03,2024
Fortune News | Jul 18,2021
Radar | Sep 10,2023
View From Arada | Mar 02,2019
Radar | Oct 14,2023
Aug 18 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Although predictable Yonas Zerihun's job in the ride-hailing service is not immune to...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Investors who rely on tractors, trucks, and field vehicles for commuting, transportin...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By MUNIR SHEMSU
The cracks in Ethiopia's higher education system were laid bare during a synthesis re...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Construction authorities have unveiled a price adjustment implementation manual for s...
Nov 2 , 2024
Addis Abeba, fondly dubbed a 'New Flower,' is wilting under the weight of unchecked u...
Oct 26 , 2024
When flames devoured parts of Mercato, residents watched helplessly as decades of toi...
Oct 20 , 2024
Central Bank authorities have unveiled no less than six new guidelines to fine-tune t...
Oct 12 , 2024
In his inaugural address on October 27, 2024, Taye Atseqesellasie, the fifth presiden...