Health
The Ejere region (population 100,000) has 4 health centres and 27 rural health posts. Each post is staffed by health extension workers (HEWs) – young women who have had nine months training – and each serves around 4000 people. In the health centres there are more facilities. A simple lab with trained lab technicians, a limited pharmacy with a pharmacist and a delivery suite with trained nurses and midwives. There are also administrative staff and one ambulance. There are, however, no doctors.
For Ethiopia has provided furniture and medical equipment to every health post in the region. Since 2005 this has included basic furniture, examination couches, medicine cabinets, stethoscopes, blood pressure gauges, infant scales, sterilising equipment and sustainable solar powered fridges.
The community asked us for refrigerators. In 2011 we piloted our first solar fridge in Beso. Installation and training was given to the clinic workers and a local electrician by Solarsense-UK. This proved such a success that 7 more were installed in 2012/13. Reaching the furthest health posts with cold storage has reduced vaccine wastage from over 33% to virtually zero.
More recent projects are concentrating on delivery suites in the Health Centres. Our current campaign, Women and Children First, is aimed at helping to reduce the maternal and infant mortality. Supplying light and running water is the first requirement!
The Ilu Aga clinic serves a population of over 7000. It has no power or running water. The lack of electricity means that immunisation campaigns have to take place within the limited time that insulated coolers can sustain the vaccines.
Access to Ilu Aga from Addis Alem involves a 1.5 hour 4×4 journey along bumpy tracks followed by a 30-45 minute hike over hills.
Latest Health News
April Newsletter
April 23rd is St George’s day – we share a patron saint – but there will be few celebrations in Ethiopia this year.
A lifetime of memories fitting solar fridges in Ethiopia by Nigel Walker
Research into replacing Kerosene Fridges Prior to fitting solar fridges, the health stations in Addis Alem used kerosene fridges to keep their vaccines below the required eight degree Celsius. They had served the stations well enough, but were costly and rather...
Brenda’s Bike – in the news
Have a read of the article just published on The Rider's Digest: I am not a biker. I am a retired GP from Bristol who is part of a small development project in rural Ethiopia, helping out with worthy aims such as wells, schools and health posts. So what am I doing...
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