Current Performance of Hospitals & Healthcare System in Ethiopia and What To Do Better

Indian pharma exporters’ most sorted market in Africa starts from Ethiopia, but the African leader’s favourite destination for medical attention is either India, the United Kingdom, the United States of America (USA), United Arab Emirates (UAE), Australia, or Canada. What can be done better, to make Ethiopia the host of the world’s best health systems?

The Answer is that Ethiopian Doctors, Nurses, and other health professionals should continue their chase for excellence in their medical journey over quantity, just like every other health expert in other African countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Ghana are doing. The goal is to sustain the interest and trust of our leaders and citizens in the country’s healthcare system.

Ethiopia is the home to one of the oldest and most respected figures in the world healthcare industry. He is Hakim Workneh Eshete also known as Charles Martin (21 October 1864 – 9 October 1952) the first Ethiopian educated professional as a medical doctor, and a proud Ethiopian intellectual. Healthcare excellence started long ago, so we can still do better in the recent years.

I have a dream, one day the world will go to Ethiopia for medical tourism, and they will receive world class health care treatment, and attention, that they will testify of the integrity, expertise and kindness in our health care services. – Chidiebere Moses Ogbodo.

Did you know?

Since 1994, Ethiopia’s healthcare system has been decentralised across nine regional states and two major city administrations; (Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa), and there has been limited attention to other regions except for the few concentrated urban settlements. Something has to be done to improve this, and it must be done now!

Quick Facts About Current Ethiopian Hospitals and Healthcare System:

1. As of today, there are 87 hospitals in Ethiopia with 11,296 beds, that means 1 bed per 3734 people, Compared to South Africa’s over 400 public hospitals and more than 200 private hospitals. Ethiopia is a host of 1949 health stations, 141 health centers, While there is predominantly dispensation of medication after a physician’s visit, a large amount is also done illegally by pharmacists with no prescription from a hospital or clinic, this can also be attributed to the limited support from the ministry.
2. Ethiopia’s healthcare facilities are increasing on a daily basis: more than it had done in the last decade, such as quadruple increase of healthcare facilities and small clinics from 4,211 to 14,416. Public hospitals growth is from 76 to 126 including the rural healthcare making life easier for the citizens in remote areas.
3. Ethiopia government is promoting transparency in the healthcare industry by introducing Social Accountability (SA) initiative: to its citizens in which citizens would receive full awareness of healthcare rights and standards. This will aid the disabled and improve poor sanitation, increase medical supplies and empower excellence in facility service. This has enlightened the citizens to have clear knowledge of what the service standards the health systems must reach.
4. The government introduced reforms in healthcare: to direct more attention to healthcare systems that will help achieve the desired efficiency in the provision of extensive healthcare in Ethiopia. Ethiopia increased healthcare expenses from 4.5% to 5.2% which helps to provide more employment, better medical equipment and overall care of the governing bodies, as much as it does the citizens.
5. Ethiopia’s healthcare development plan: is focusing more on extensive organization welfare and quality management by enforcing specific facility on the governing boards to ensure that they do not overlook the state of the existing healthcare facilities. About 93% of the facility government boards that emerged in healthcare centers during 2013 were in the hopes of providing better management, although that has not been met. So, the government is working to change that.
6. The Provision of Assistance by the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI): advocating better quality healthcare by partnering with selected competent organizations, such as Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health, in a bid to promote quality healthcare by testing and launching a model health system for improved healthcare facilities and communities. This will help create efficient and simple strategy for sustainable health system in Ethiopia.
7. Ethiopia’s Health System Transformation Plan (HSTP), an intricate plan with several targets aimed to improve the healthcare system, was established in 2020, to help lower the infant mortality rate, bring a total reduction of HIV contraction, lower tuberculosis-related deaths and help control malaria issues to avoid deaths. These outlined targets have helped Ethiopia’s government to achieve clear and distinct outlook on the future of healthcare.

What Can Be Done Better for Ethiopia Healthcare System to Triumph:

Although Ethiopian leaders are not exempted from the African leaders abroad health tourism dilemma, Ethiopia’s healthcare system is consistently working to overcome the healthcare major challenges to achieve improvements by ensuring access to quality healthcare for over 123 million Ethiopian citizens. There is significant progress in fighting and winning infectious diseases, bad water, poor hygiene, and malnutrition among the children.

Let’s explore the road to triumph –

1.      Credible Healthcare Partnerships:

Ethiopia government is collaborating with global organizations such as USAID to empower families and strengthen the healthcare system by providing improved, quality health services for families, especially the underserved areas. They are providing support to those affected by conflict, drought, and disease outbreaks by investing in high-impact interventions to achieve the improved care results. When communities are engaged properly, the right workforce is trained and the best quality health service can be guaranteed and delivered.

·         This partnership is providing affordable health insurance for families across various communities and helping them to seek the right care, and to be able to triumph over any emergencies. Mothers and Newborns, including adolescents, are provided for in this health service package through counseling on voluntary family planning, sanitation, and nutrition.

·         This partnership has helped empower the private sector with investment to achieve financial stability, and gain access to equitable, and quality health services regardless of global health situation.

2. Equitable Care Distribution:

Ethiopia should increase the number of quality hospitals, train more doctors,  reach out to their communities to express themselves on time, avoid the spread of diseases unknown to the public, and install the right management team who has the welfare of the people in mind. Ethiopia’s healthcare system has three structures;  primary, secondary, and the tertiary levels of care. The healthcare resources and quality management should be span through this three-tier structure so that it can reach to  everyone in the country.

Name: Dr. Misker Kassahun, Company: GIV Society Ethiopia Designation: Co-founder & Executive Director Nationality: EthiopianThere are exemplary doctors already in Ethiopia, such as Dr. Misker Kassahun, two times Supernational model and Beauty Queen, featured in 10 Most Inspiring Healthcare Woman-Leaders To Watch 2022 Sept2022 by a global magazine, The Healthcare Everything. More of this caliber of professionals are needed to make the Ethiopia healthcare system to a better and more functional status.

3. Access to Modern Healthcare:

Happy clients are the rudiments of a successful business. Healthcare is not left out in this concern. So, making available modern, improved and robust healthcare to everyone, including the rural areas is nonnegotiable if we must attain equity. The infant mortality rate, deaths due to slow response to accidents, low-critical health situations due to late attendance to common healthcare and negligence to the signs of critical diseases due to lack of modern healthcare systems are a bad omen to the health of Ethiopians as a nation.

The government health ministries, and private sectors should establish healthcare hotlines for emergency responses, produce/import high quality healthcare/medical devices, demand quality attention and service from practicing professionals, and optimize the procedure required to reach the right offices for assistance.

4. Improved Healthcare Education:

The government and private sectors should invest more on providing healthcare education, by  providing media channels such as television programs, radio programs, and healthcare discussions on healthcare topics, to communicate to the public the underlying social, economic and environmental conditions impacting health. The immediate measures to take, in case of emergency, whom to call for help, where to go depending on the health situation and exact quality of attention to demand at every level at all times. A well-educated population is a healthy nation, so we must let the people know their individual risk factors and unhealthy behaviours, and inform them how to properly use the health care system’s services to improve their health.

The current Performance of Hospitals and the Healthcare system in Ethiopia can be improved by paying attention to all private sectors, autonomous health institutions, government bodies, and all healthcare amenities (facilities) using the best available resources wisely, and consulting the expertise of professionals in all healthcare domains to contribute to the growth of the nation’s healthcare system. Learn from weaknesses to enrich strengths in order for Ethiopia’s healthcare system to pull off good and sustainable performance in the days to come.

Ethiopia’s government bodies should increase their responsiveness to the call of the citizens whenever the phone rings whether of emergency or non-emergency. Measure your nation’s performance by comparing it with the world’s best health systems, such as the USA, China, India, Japan, and Spain. Then make it a task to outperform them. Make Ethiopia the world’s top choice destination for everything healthcare tourism. Improved healthcare, better financial remuneration for health care workers, and timely intervention will guarantee client satisfaction; the client, in this case, includes Eth Ethiopia’s citizens, both the poor and the rich. 

Historical Facts, which may interest you to visit Ethiopia soon:

1. Ethiopia uses the Julian Calendar leading to 13 months and the country being in 2014 currently.
2. In Ethiopia the clock starts when the day does, so every measurement is based on this logic
3. Ethiopia has never been under colonial control.
4. Rastafarian movement started from Ethiopia
5. A herder took first cup of coffee in Ethiopia, which led to the emergence of Ethiopia’s coffee industry. It is not hard to say that, the emergence coffee in general, Coffee was discovered in Ethiopia
6. Several archaeological in Ethiopia gives hint to being the origin of mankind.
7. Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila is the first African Black Man to win gold in the Olympics in 1960. What makes this win even more interesting is, he run the whole marathon barefoot.
8. Addis Ababa’s when translated means ‘New Flower’ in Amharic.
9. Ethiopia prides itself as of the tastiest, healthiest and most diverse cuisine on the continent.
10. The baptism of Jesus Christ in the river Jordan is celebrated during Timket, the biggest three-day annual festival in Ethiopia.