Ethiopia News

With the money he received from his relatives abroad, Wolli Edris Ahmad (his actual name is changed for privacy reasons) bought a handful of consumable goods and spent most of it buying medicines his family and relatives would need back in the village. 

The following day he would depart from the capital, Addis Ababa, to visit his pastoralist relatives who reside 946 KMs away in Dollo Addo Woreda, Liban Zone of Ethiopia's Somali Region, which shares a long open border with the Federal Republic of Somalia.

Call on ESA countries to restore immunization progress lost during the pandemic

News Release
Addis Ababa- 22 June 2023 - With most countries in East and Southern African (ESA) experiencing significant declines in routine immunization coverage rates due to the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions, National Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) Managers have adopted recommendations to restore immunization coverage and reach more people with lifesaving vaccines across the life course at their recently ended three-day meeting in Addis Ababa.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is partnering with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support the Government of Ethiopia in the development of a Primary Healthcare (PHC) Investment plan and Primary Healthcare infrastructure roadmap.

A team from the three tiers of the World Health Organization (WHO Headquarters, WHO Africa Regional Office, and WHO-Ethiopia Country Office) deliberated with H.E Lia Tadesse, Ethiopian Minister of Health, on ways of fast-tracking the development of the Investment Plan and Healthcare Infrastructure Roadmap.

Ethiopia’s malaria response, already disrupted by the impacts of COVID-19, is grappling with the multi-faceted challenges of an ongoing uptick in new cases, complicated by vector resistance to insecticides.   

Driven by the continued fallout of pandemic-related programme disruptions, armed conflict, and displacement, Ethiopia recorded a 32,5% increase in confirmed malaria cases between 2021 and 2022, from 1,1m to 1,5m. To date in 2023, reported malaria cases have increased by 150% and 120%, respectively, compared to the same periods in 2021 and 2022.    

109,984 zero-dose children received routine vaccines during an integrated measles vaccination campaign

Hodan Abdi, an Internally Displaced Person (IDP), living in Tulu Gulled Woreda, Fafan Zone of Somali Region, went through a very painful, prolonged and unbearable labour whilst giving birth to her baby boy, Mudasir.

The World Health Organization (WHO) donated an assortment of emergency and essential medicines and medical supplies totaling 19.5 metric tons (MT) to the Afar Region of Ethiopia. 

The medicines and medical supplies, estimated to be worth over USD 135,000, will benefit more than 400,000 individuals in various woredas impacted by disease outbreaks and ongoing humanitarian situations. 

The medicines and medical supplies include 222 modules of Trauma and Emergency Kit (TESK), Interagency Emergency Health Kit (IEHK), and Malaria and Measles supplies.

Addis Ababa, May 12, 2023: Experts in the prevention and management of Tuberculosis (TB) and representatives of health ministries from 18 countries in southern and eastern Africa have established a new regional network.

The newly established "South and Eastern African Regional TB Network (SEARN-TB) aims to improve the coordination and harmonization of TB control strategies, focusing on encouraging implementation and operational research and the effective use of research outcomes to strengthen TB control throughout the region.

A high-level policy dialogue workshop took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the rising incidence of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) in Ethiopia and how fiscal measures can help prevent and mitigate its economic, public health, and equity impact.

Successful Measles Supplementary Immunization Activity (SIA)

In the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, an integrated Measles Supplementary Immunization Activity (SIA) was successfully carried out in 76 out of 93 woredas, most of which were previously inaccessible. The Regional Health Bureau collaborated with WHO Ethiopia, UNICEF, and other UN agencies and partners to immunize over 830,000 children aged 6-59 months from 27 March to 7 April 2023.