Dessie Hospital Rehab Revives as First Delivery Arrives

Dec 4 , 2022


[ssba-buttons]

The public hospital in Dessie, 400Km north of the capital in the Amhara Regional State, is beginning to crawl to its regular operations as the first delivery of rehabilitation works was delivered last week. Expertise France, a French public agency, is carrying out the work with five million euros financed by the French government and the European Union (EU). The handover ceremony was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Health, Rémi Marechaux and Roland Kobia, ambassadors of France and the European Union. The Hospital provides services to nearly half a million patients annually, including those travelling from the neighbouring Tigray and Afar regional states. It is among the largest in the country, with over 1,000 health professionals working. It has seen services interrupted as its facilities and equipment suffered damage due to the militarized conflict raging in the north. The Hospital has been operating at less than half its capacity and suffers from damaged x-ray machines and microscopes. Hospital administrators estimate the losses at 2.1 billion Br. According to the French agency, this first delivery will provide the Hospital with the necessary equipment to relaunch primary health care. The Agency experts determined that the Hospital requires a new wastewater treatment plant and water supply system, as well as electrical repairs and machinery supplies. Expertise France floated tenders two months ago for medical equipment supply and to hire a construction firm for construction works.


Radar

US Renews National Emergency, Sanctions on Ethiopia

The United States has extended the national emergency and sanctions on Ethiopia for another year under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA). Signed by President Donald J. Trump, the measure was first declared on September 17, 2021, through an executive order citing the conflict in northern region of the country as an "unusual and extraordinary" threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The extension, effective until September 17, 2026, keeps in place restrictions targeti...


Radar

Rockefeller Pitches Clean Cooking to Curb School Meal Emissions

A recent study has revealed the staggering environmental toll of school feeding programs. A single school serving 400 students can burn through the equivalent of 56 hectares of forest each year to fuel cooking. The Rockefeller Foundation flagged the health risks too, with most cooks, predominantly women, breathing smoke levels ten times higher than the World Health Organisation's safe limit. "If every school meal transitioned to clean cooking with electricity and solar, the emissions saved wo...


Radar

Sun-Powered Grid Brings Light to Qunbi District

A new 600KW solar mini-grid in East Hararge'sQunbi district has connected 2,200 households to electricity, marking a milestone in the recent rural electrification push. Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) laid seven kilometres of medium-voltage and 10 kilometres of low-voltage lines, installing four transformers to reach communities long cut off from power. Customers cover only meter and installation costs before accessing the service. The project is part of the national strategy to expand energ...