The United States and Ethiopia signed a new partnership agreement to end tuberculosis (TB) across the country. Lia Tadesse (MD), state minister for Health, and Sean Jones, mission director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), signed the agreement last week. Under this project, Ethiopia will be one of 30 focus countries under USAID’s new Global Accelerator to End TB initiative, a new model USAID is employing to meet the United Nations target of treating 40 million people worldwide by 2022. Since 2000, USAID has been working closely with the Ministry of Health and regional health bureaus to strengthen the national TB program. Ethiopia has detected and treated more than two million TB cases, significantly reducing TB incidence by more than half while cutting TB-related deaths by nearly 70pc over the past two decades. The United States pledges 150 million dollars in support to Ethiopia’s health sector a year to fight tuberculosis; HIV/AIDS; malaria; maternal, neonatal and child health; nutrition; and water, sanitation and hygiene. Overall, the United States has provided approximately four billion dollars in development and humanitarian assistance over the past five years.
