Friday, November 27, 2009

Gondar health clinic re-opens

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)-run health clinic in Gondar, which has remained closed since last May, officially re-opened its doors Thursday following a quarter-of-a-million dollar donation from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) and an anonymous US donor, The Jerusalem Post was told Thursday.


Candidates for aliya are seen studying in Gondar in this file photo from September.
Photo: Dr. Arthur I. Eidelman
According to a JDC spokeswoman, IFCJ founder and President Yehiel Eckstein provided a $125,000 grant for the clinic and his donation was matched by a donor from New York.

"We are very pleased that we are able to respond to the Israeli government's request to re-open the clinic," Steven Schweger, Chief Executive Officer of the JDC, told the Post. "We were able to do so due to funding from Rabbi Eckstein and an American Jewish donor."

Earlier this month, the JDC announced that it was preparing to re-open the clinic, which had been providing basic medical and sometimes life-saving health services to thousands of Falash Mura (Ethiopian Jews whose ancestors were forced to convert to Christianity centuries ago) waiting to immigrate to Israel.

While there were initial indications that the Israeli government would provide funding for the clinic, after they failed to materialize the JDC sought funding from private sources.

The re-opening of the Gondar clinic comes a week after Jewish Agency for Israel Executive Chairman Natan Sharansky told Jewish leaders in Philadelphia that he was in favor of bringing the remaining Ethiopian Jews to Israel if their Jewish ancestry could be proved.
It also follows some two years of contradictory decisions over continuing immigration from the East African country. In July 2007, it was announced that aliya from Ethiopia was almost over and in January 2008, the Interior Ministry recalled its staff from Gondar.

Protests from the local community, US Jewry and Israeli legislators, however, pointing out that thousands of Falash Mura were still eligible for immigration caused the government to rethink its decision and in September 2008 the Interior Ministry said its representatives would return to Ethiopia and continue checking the eligibility for aliya of some 3,000 people.

Less than a year later, however, the matter came under doubt again when a section of the 2009 Economic Arrangements Bill claimed that the overall aliya process for the Falash Mura community was too costly and suggested that previous government decisions be reversed. Under pressure from the pro-Falash Mura lobby, however, this section was dropped from the bill.

When the JDC clinic was closed last spring that also came under fire, with critics claiming that the Falash Mura, who are already learning Hebrew and various Jewish practices, had no alternative medical care.

Now, with the Gondar clinic re-opening, the Jewish Agency looking to increase its role in the area and Interior Minister Eli Yishai actively supportive, it seems that Ethiopian aliya is back on the agenda.

Monday, November 2, 2009

A Heroic Doctor, a Global Scourge

By Nicholas Kristof
My Sunday column is about obstetric fistula, a horrendous childbirth injury that rarely gets attention or treatment because the victims are the most voiceless of the voiceless. Dr. Lewis Wall, the hero of the column, taught me about fistulas years ago, and so I’ve been writing about them periodically since my first column on the topic back in 2002.

For years, I’ve watched with admiration as Dr. Wall has persevered to try to build a fistula hospital in West Africa — and I’m thrilled that he is now fulfilling his dream. Those who want to help his Niger hospital can support his organization, the Worldwide Fistula Fund; tax-deductible donations to the hospital are possible right on the site, so please don’t send any money in my direction. For now the surgeries in Niger will be done in the existing leprosy hospital there, and he still needs significant sums to construct the new fistula wing beside it.

There’s another great fistula organization, the Fistula Foundation, that supports the Addis Ababa hospital and other places such as the remarkable Edna Adan maternity hospital in Somaliland.

Above all, I hope that we go even further and eradicate fistula globally. In the column, I mention Dr. Wall’s careful 12-year $1.5 billion proposal (written with Michael Horowitz of the Hudson Institute) to eradicate fistula. It’s also an effort to tackle maternal mortality; my sense is that fistula may be the best way to get traction for maternal health.

I’m hoping that the Obama administration will endorse this plan, and that more members of Congress will line up behind it. Those women with fistulas are the lepers of our time, and it’s unconscionable to turn away when we can repair those fistulas so easily. So if you want to help, spread the word about that plan as well.

I also give a plug to this global fistula plan in my new book, written with Sheryl WuDunn. And for those who want to read more about fistula,
one of my most-read columns ever was about the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, and the extraordinary Dr. Catherine Hamlin — who has dedicated her life to overcoming fistula and deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. I’ve also made videos of the fistula hospital and of Mamitu, an extraordinary surgeon there who never went to school.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Ethiopia prepares to produce, consume and export Jatropha bio-fuel

Two Ethiopian doctors visited several local medical facilities as part of an ongoing partnership with a Lebanon-based charity.
Since arriving in the United States on Monday, Dr. Abraham Asnake and Dr. Abiye Mulugeta visited the Hershey Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon and Physicians Surgical Center in North Cornwall Township.

"We are really fascinated by the facilities," Mulugeta said Wednesday during a visit to the Alley Center for the Blind in North Lebanon Township.

Asnake said there are no facilities in Ethiopia like the ones they toured here.

"It's very hard in our country," he said. "Hopefully one day."

Asnake, a general surgeon and administrator of Ras Desta Hospital in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, and Mulugeta, an ophthalmologist and chairman of the ophthalmology department at Ras Desta, arrived in the area Monday. They are scheduled to spend six days in the area as guests of the World Blindness Outreach and Sunrise Rotary Club of Lancaster.

The WBO, which is based in Lebanon, is a humanitarian organization that supports eye missions to treat correctable blindness and preventable eye diseases among indigent peoples throughout the world. Since 1990, the WBO has performed more than 5,000 eye surgeries on 50 missions to 20 countries.

Dr. Robert Alley, a Lebanon ophthalmologist and founder and president of WBO, said he invited Asnake and Mulugeta to come to this country for several reasons.

"I wanted to extend our hospitality to them because we have been there three times, and they have extended their hospitality to us, and they made us feel so much at home, and I feel very close to both these gentlemen, so I invited them here as friends," said Alley, the namesake of the Alley Center for the Blind.
Alley said the goal of the visit was to give the doctors an overview of medicine in this country.

"I would hope they see some things they can apply when they get back home," he said.

The Lancaster Sunrise Rotary Club has partnered with WBO on three surgical eye missions to Ethiopia in the past six years, during which 600 successful eye surgeries were performed on patients at Ras Desta. Another mission is scheduled for April 2010.

Asnake and Mulugeta were also guests at Monday's WBO banquet in Hershey. At the banquet, they received awards in recognition of their support for three WBO surgical eye missions to their hospital.



bradrhen@ldnews.com; 272-5611, ext. 145

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

In Ethiopia, fighting blindness may prevent deaths

An antibiotic widely used in Africa to treat eyesight-robbing infections seems to help prevent Ethiopian children from dying of others diseases.

A study in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association suggests an unintended benefit from efforts to wipe out trachoma, the world's leading preventable cause of blindness.

The World Health Organization has set 2020 as the target for eliminating trachoma. The United States has been free of the disease since the 1970s, but it persists in 48 countries. In Ethiopia, a hotbed, 40 percent of children under 10 show signs of active trachoma.

"Trachoma is almost part of the definition of poverty," said study co-author Paul Emerson of the Atlanta-based Carter Center. "Its victims are forgotten and without political voice, which is why this finding is so tremendously exciting."

The researchers compared villages where children received the antibiotic Zithromax to villages where treatment was delayed a year. The antibiotic cut the death rate in half, and the researchers speculate it helped prevent deaths from pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria, the biggest killers of Ethiopian children.

Among about 13,000 children in treated villages, there were 45 deaths. Among the 5,100 children in villages where treatment was delayed, there were 37 deaths.

Trachoma is caused by bacteria that spreads to the eyes from fingers, clothing or, some researchers think, from flies. Blindness develops over decades through repeated infections and scarring.

"Anything that has potential to reduce mortality is of large interest," said trachoma researcher Sheila West of Johns Hopkins' Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore. West was not involved in the new research.

The study would be stronger if it had compared death rates before and after the antibiotic treatment, she said. And she was puzzled there wasn't much difference in death rates among groups treated once, twice or four times during the year.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. The International Trachoma Initiative supplied the antibiotic through donations from drugmaker Pfizer Inc.

The trachoma program of the Carter Center, founded by former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, implemented the treatment and hosted the research.

"This study shows trachoma control goes far beyond blindness prevention — it also saves lives," the former president said in a statement.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Berks County doctor helps Ethiopians set up nation's first modern trauma unit

Just running the Reading Hospital emergency department, Dr. Charles F. Barbera gets plenty of perspective on health care.

But he discovered even more this summer in Africa, helping to open the first modern trauma unit in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.

"I was one of several doctors who went with a South Korean Christian medical group to help with the center," said Barbera, 45, who has been chairman of the hospital's department of emergency for the past 10 years.

Barbera resides in Wyomissing with his wife, Mary, a behavior analyst, and their children Lucas, 13, and Spencer, 11.

"Ethiopia is probably more than 20 or so years behind as far as advances in medical treatments," said Barbera, who worked in the country with an international medical team at the Myungsung Christian Medical Center from June 18 to July 3.

"I had never been to a Third World country, so this was an eye-opening experience for me, to learn about the practice of medicine and health care needs in other places," he said.

What Barbera mainly learned is how lucky he feels being in the American medical system, because of its advanced diagnostic technology and medical treatments. That's true even with all of the most recent political tumult about the need for health care reform.

"First, there is a lot we take for granted in terms of the basics - food, water, shelter, electrical supply," Barbera said. "In Ethiopia, everything is pay in advance - in cash - for medical services.

"If you can't afford it (the care), it just isn't there. People will choose to go home and die."

Frustration and need

Barbera said life expectancy is about 45 years in this African nation of about 78 million people. About 8 million people live in Addis Ababa.

Diseases and illnesses are also much different from what is seen in the West.

"You don't have the heart disease and obesity there," Barbera said, noting that he was asked by a United Nation's contingent to serve one day at an Eritrea border refugee camp where he saw about 400 patients in a makeshift clinic with dirt floors and walls and a sheet metal roof.

"I was seeing malaria, typhus and bacterial eye infections that can lead to blindness," he said. "There were serious burns because of people commonly cooking over open fires, thyroid diseases and some autism and trauma.
"It was frustrating because only some of the things I could treat. I did what I could, but breast cancer, blindness I couldn't do anything about."

Ironically, in a country whose medical system is backward by Western standards, trauma suffered by victims in modern traffic accidents is a growing problem.

Increasing numbers of patients are transferred to Addis Ababa from more limited, smaller medical facilities throughout the country.

"The new trauma unit was already seeing up to 20 patients a day, many of them brought to the hospital days after the trauma occurred because there is no emergency medical transport system; everything is by private carrier, sometimes by animal," Barbera said.

The trauma unit is part of the city's 100-bed hospital, which has five beds in a room and no private rooms, Barbera said. The intensive care area is one room with three beds.

Nations work together

When the trauma center opened, Tadesse Haile, Ethiopia's trade and state minister, said his nation faces a lack of comprehensive medical services such as modern trauma units.

"There is a need to do more to establish such modern medical centers in the capital as it moves to be home for various people and international organizations of the world," he said.

According to Barbera, the new trauma unit, with highly sophisticated diagnostic equipment, will have comprehensive trauma services with trauma, neuro and orthopedic surgeons.

Officially opened in 2004, the Myungsung Christian Medical Center has been providing medical services in 10 departments, including internal medicine, surgery, obstetric, gynecology, pediatrics and neurosurgery.

"Keeping doctors there (in Ethiopia) is a huge problem, because when a doctor comes here to the U.S. to be trained, he will stay here - never go back," Barbera said. "Doctors there get paid about $600 a month, about 70 cents an hour."

Barbera credited the Japanese, South Koreans, Swedes, Italians and Americans with trying to upgrade Ethiopia's medical care system.

"It is a place where people often must bargain and negotiate for care, and waiting rooms are filled," Barbera said. "I hope to go back within a year - and maybe bring some of my colleagues."

Contact Bruce R. Posten: 610-371-5059 or bposten@readingeagle.com.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Sociocultural factors influencing HIV/AIDS caregiving in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Sociocultural factors influencing HIV/AIDS caregiving in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Nurs Health Sci. 2009 Sep;11(3):244-51
Authors: Aga F, Kylmä J, Nikkonen M
The sociocultural factors that influence care and caregiving vary from place to place, with both beneficial and harmful effects on the health of the caregivers.

Therefore, this article presents the cultural and social structural factors that influence care and caregiving from the perspectives of the family caregivers of people living with HIV/AIDS in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Using semistructured interviews and participant observation, a purposive sample of six key participants and 12 general participants were interviewed in their home between December 2005 and January 2006. Four important sociocultural factors that influence care and caregiving have been identified: religious beliefs, economic issues, education, and social stigma and discrimination. The findings of our study underscore the importance of understanding the cultural and social structural factors that influence care and caregiving from the perspectives of family caregivers in order to provide culturally congruent care to those in need.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Indian firm to build eye centre in Addis Ababa

By Groum Abate
Addis Ababa, Aug 8 (IANS) Indian project development firm Overseas Infrastructure Alliance (OIA), involved in diverse projects in Africa’s second-most populous nation, will build an eye care centre in the premises of the Zewditu Memorial Hospital here as part of its community partnership programme. The project has been lauded by Ethiopia’s President Girma Woldegiorgis.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the hospital, Woldegiorgis said close to 2.3 million blind people live in Ethiopia, out of which 1.3 million are totally blind. He said there was a severe shortage of health facilities and eye care specialists that offer medium and large scale services in the country.

Girma expressed gratitude to Indian Ambassador Gurjit Singh on behalf of the people of Ethiopia for encouraging OIA to help set up the facility. The establishment of the eye care centre shows the ever-increasing people-to-people ties between Ethiopia and India, he added.

Addis Ababa Mayor Kuma Demekissa said Menelik II and Ras Desta Damitew Hospitals are the only hospitals in the city that offer medium- and large-scale eye care services and the new centre will help add up to the service given in the city.

Gurjit Singh said that the hospital would be the second hospital from the Indian people after the Gandhi Memorial Hospital that was established some 60 years ago. He said the facility would boost Ethiopia-India friendship.

OIA chairman V.B. Soni said the company will construct a state of the art eye care centre, outpatient service with modern diagnostic facilities, minor and major operation theatres, inpatient services, and administrative offices. The two-storey opthalmology centre on 2,000 sq metres will also be equipped with modern diagnostic, clinical and office equipment and furniture, he said.

OIA is also participating in sugar production expansion projects in Ethiopia after the Indian government extended a $640 million loan for the project. Besides, it is also involved in the rehabilitation of the Ethiopia-Djibouti rail link.

Friday, August 7, 2009

World Learning Launches an HIV Prevention Project in Ethiopia

July 23, 2009 (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia): World Learning Ethiopia announced the launch of a three-year project entitled “HIV Prevention in Large Scale Construction Sites in Ethiopia,” made possible by a $4.75 million grant from the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS (PEPFAR) through United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project aims to reach more than 33,000 construction workers, 2,900 commercial sex workers and 200,000 surrounding community members from a total of 25 construction sites located throughout Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is undergoing nation-wide economic development efforts that include large-scale construction throughout the country. Many of these construction sites are in rural and remote locations where HIV prevention and care efforts are often lacking. Working in collaboration with key government agencies, World Learning seeks to create workplace interventions and policies that will reduce high-risk behavior and HIV infection for workers and community members.

Local partners, World Learning staff and community members attended the launch event. The day included a keynote address by USAID Deputy Mission Director Nancy Estes and workshops by Dr. Abeba Bekele, chief of the prevention project and Ministry of Water Resources representatives.

Nancy Estes observed, “…this project implemented by World Learning is unique in that it works closely with government agencies to help institutionalize HIV prevention policies and programs in the workplace.” She continued, quoting a famous Ethiopian Amharic proverb hande bertu hulet medhanitu meaning “two is stronger that one.” “I could not agree more,” Estes noted. “It takes partnership-between government and donors, NGOs and communities, to make a lasting change…we believe that without the involvement of the government and the community, HIV prevention will not be sustainable.”

World Learning Ethiopia Country Representative, Adanech Kebede, said, “It’s my firm belief that with the commitment and expertise we expect from (World Learning,) we will be able to achieve our objectives and contribute towards the betterment of our country Ethiopia”.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

PEPFAR Supports HIV Surveillance Activities in Ethiopia

July 27, 2009: A national HIV Surveillance Summit opened today in Adama town to develop a five-year HIV surveillance and survey strategic plan and leverage commitments from various stakeholders in the health sector to undertake the activities. The summit will stay open until Wednesday, July 29, 2009.



The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is a member of the National HIV Surveillance and Survey Technical Working Group that supports the Federal Ministry of Health, the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute (EHNRI), the Federal HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (FHAPCO), and Regional Health Bureaus in conducting various HIV/SIT/TB surveillance and survey activities in Ethiopia. Alongside, FHAPCO and EHNRI; CSA, WHO, UNAIDS and Tulane University are also members of the technical Working group.



Ethiopia is among the sub-Saharan countries highly affected by HIV/AIDS with an estimated 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS and national prevalence of 2.2%.


The data from surveillance and surveys provide crucial information on populations infected with HIV, and who are at risk for HIV infection. These data help to develop HIV/AIDS control and prevention programs in the country. Ethiopia has made great strides in curbing the HIV epidemic based on evidence-based planning and comprehensive interventions. Currently, the FMOH and EHNRI, in collaboration with major partners, are strengthening the national HIV Surveillance programs by increasing the geographic coverage - mainly in rural sites, improving data and testing quality, providing appropriate standardized training for the staffs at national, regional, sentinel sites as well as in the regional laboratories.


Due to the marked geographic heterogeneity of the HIV epidemic, new surveillance approaches and more focus on the regional level and relevant population groups are highly desired. There has been no mid/long term national HIV surveillance and surveys strategic plan. The strategic plan is crucial to guide the collective efforts of surveillance stakeholders in generating relevant epidemiologic information to optimally support the design and implementation of HIV control and prevention programs in Ethiopia.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Mystery disease kills 18 in Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA - A mysterious disease has killed 18 people and affected around 150 others in central Ethiopia, the UN humanitarian office said Monday.


"Although the signs and symptoms of the disease include headache, fever, neck stiffness, diarrhea and vomitting — all related to meningitis, the specific disease has not yet been confirmed," it said in a statement.


The Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the disease erupted on July 4.


Meanwhile, an outbreak of typhoid fever has killed one person and affected more than 100 in the northern Tigray region, OCHA said, adding that 11 others have also died of acute watery diarrhea across the country.


The Horn of Africa nation is also facing food shortages in some parts with over six million of its people needing food aid due to poor rains, according to the UN.


Ethiopia is Africa's second most populous country after Nigeria with around 77 million inhabitants.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Veterinary school celebrates 50 years with service project in Ethiopia

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University’s School of Veterinary Medicine celebrated its 50th anniversary by sending 19 faculty members, students and alumni to Ethiopia to help production animal proficiency and facilitate ongoing relationships with the Ethiopian veterinary school.

The group spent several days working with Project Mercy, a U.S.-based nonprofit relief and development agency that seeks to improve both cattle and human nutrition through breeding practices.


Mark Hilton, Purdue veterinarian and clinical professor of food and animal production medicine, explains to veterinary students in Ethiopia how to properly trim cow hooves. (Purdue University photo courtesy of Mimi Arighi)
“This trip was a service project first and foremost,” said Mark Hilton, Purdue veterinarian and clinical professor of food and animal production medicine. “We knew we would be able to help out with Project Mercy and that they would appreciate any input we could provide.”

As part of their work with Project Mercy, the group calculated animal weight, administered vaccines and performed pregnancy checks.

“The thing that surprised me most was the lack of adequate animal nutrition and growth,” Hilton said. “The heifers there were only 250-350 pounds at a year old. Because of the lack of nutrition, animal reproduction is a luxury in Ethiopia. We saw 5-year-old heifers that had never even been in heat. We really want to improve reproduction and show the Ethiopian people that they can do it too.”

One aspect of Project Mercy is breeding Ethiopian cattle breeds with American and European breeds, such as Jerseys—a breed of dairy cattle common in the United States.

“Breeding Ethiopian cattle with Jerseys is a good fit because Jerseys are small, they have a high fertility rate and they produce a lot of milk,” Hilton said.

In addition to the time spent on the Project Mercy campus, the Purdue team traveled to the Addis Ababa University College of Veterinary Medicine in Debre Zeyit, where they gave and listened to presentations and demonstrations.

“The trip to the veterinary school served as a way for us to establish a relationship between our program and theirs so we can continue to exchange ideas in the future,” Hilton said. “We want to be able to keep sending our students, faculty and alumni over there, and we want their students and faculty to come to Purdue. It’s a win-win situation for both universities.”

Outside of the work they were doing, the Purdue team also had a chance for some cultural experiences, including a camping trip to Awash National Park and a tour of Genesis Farms, a large-scale organic produce and livestock operation.


Mary Grabow, veterinarian and alumnus of the Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine, assists an Ethiopian veterinary technician in preparing a dog to be spayed. Purdue University photo courtesy of Mimi Arighi)
“I had never been to Africa, and neither had many of our participants,” said Mimi Arighi, Purdue veterinarian and director of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. “You hear about the struggles, but to see it is hard. The electricity doesn’t always work and they often run out of water, which hinders research. The computers are all on dial-up. It’s just difficult to make advances.”

One thing both Arighi and Hilton agreed upon was the enthusiasm of the Ethiopian people they met along the way.

“The people were just wonderful,” Hilton said. “All of the kids yelled and waved when they saw us. They treated us like stars. They were so welcoming and seemed so happy we were there. It was obvious that they were thankful for any help we could provide them.”

The Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine was established in 1959 with a class of 50 students. A veterinary technology degree program was added in 1975. The highly competitive doctor of veterinary medicine degree program now accepts approximately 70 students annually to study under 115 faculty members. Since its inception, the school has trained nearly 2,800 veterinarians and 800 veterinary technicians.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Ethiopian Minister of Health appointed by the Global Fund as chair

The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has elected Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Minister of Health of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, as the new Board Chair. Ernest Loevinsohn, Director General of the Global Initiatives Directorate in the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), was elected Vice-Chair.

Since 1986, and prior to his appointment as minister in 2005, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus served in a number of expert and leadership positions within the Ministry of Health at both federal and regional levels. He is also broadly recognized for his leadership in the rapidly evolving field of global health and has been working steadily to enhance Ethiopia’s active engagement in a number of major international forums. Dr Tedros Adhanom served as Chair of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership until May 2009, and currently chairs the UNAIDS Programme Coordination Board. Additionally, he has various roles in other advisory groups, such as the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, the Executive Committee of the Partners in Population and Development, the GAVI Alliance and the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation.

’The honor of this overwhelming vote of support belongs to my country, Ethiopia, which I am very privileged to represent. I am deeply humbled by this election and recognize well the weight of the responsibilities that come with it. The Global Fund faces big challenges ahead. But I am also optimistic about the great opportunities we now have for ensuring that this unique and innovative organization continues to be a success over the coming years”, said Dr Tedros Adhanom. “Stronger partnerships, greater engagement of implementing constituencies and clearer demonstration of the Global Fund’s impact will be key. We look forward to sharing our experiences in Ethiopia in implementing Global Fund-supported programs for expanding service delivery at the same time as building our health system. In Ethiopia, thanks to the Global Fund’s flexibility we are reaching more of our communities with essential health services and putting in place an effective national health system that can not only save many more lives now, but is also better able to fight for the future.’’

Professor Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund, hailed Dr Tedros Adhanom’s election to the Board’s Chair and that of Ernest Loevinsohn to the Vice-Chair. “I congratulate both Minister Tedros and Dr Loevinsohn on their election and look forward to working with them over the next two years, a critical period for global health that will help determine whether the Millennium Development Goals are achieved,” Kazatchkine said.

“Minister Tedros brings invaluable experience to the Board with his close involvement in the scale-up of AIDS, TB and malaria programs and strengthening the health system in Ethiopia, as well as his leadership experience in several major global health partnerships,” said Kazatchkine. “His distinguished record as a leading voice in global health will be a great asset to the Global Fund as he assumes the role of Chair of the Board.”

Dr Ernest Loevinsohn received his Ph.D. from Princeton University, and in 1984 he was appointed as the first Staff Director of the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Hunger. Following his work for Congress, Loevinsohn joined the Canadian government’s Department of Finance where he came to lead the work covering the aid budget, IMF, World Bank and G7, and served as Canada’s chief debt negotiator at the Paris Club. He then became Director General, Policy, for CIDA and went on to establish the agency’s Program Against Hunger, Malnutrition and Disease. Loevinsohn was the founding chair of the Global Stop TB Partnership. He also served as the long-time Chair of the Board of Results USA, the civil society advocacy organization working to eliminate the worst aspects of poverty. As well as his role as Vice-Chair Loevinsohn represents Canada, Germany and Switzerland on the Board of the Global Fund.

“As Vice-Chair, Dr Loevinsohn brings his broad knowledge of global health and development policy and – through his involvement since the first meetings at which the Global Fund was created - valuable institutional memory to the leadership of the Board,” said Kazatchkine.

During the seven years since its creation, the Global Fund has grown to become the dominant financier of programs to fight AIDS, TB and malaria, with US$ 16 billion in firm pledges and commitments of US$ 10.3 billion for programs in 140 countries. So far, programs supported by the Global Fund have averted 4 million deaths, through providing AIDS treatment for 2.3 million people, TB treatment for 5.4 million people, and distributed 88 million bed nets.

Tedros Adhanom takes over the role of Chair from Rajat Gupta, partner and former managing director of McKinsey & Company. Loevinsohn succeeds Ms Elizabeth Mataka, Executive Director of the Zambia National AIDS Network. The new Chair and Vice-Chair took up their positions on 6 July and will chair their first Board meeting in November this year.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has a unique board structure as donor and implementing countries, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector (including businesses and foundations) and affected communities all share governance responsibilities. Donors and implementers each hold ten voting seats on the Board, while the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, UNAIDS, Roll Back Malaria/Stop TB/UNITAID (who share a seat),the Swiss government and the Global Fund Executive Director hold nonvoting seats. The Global Fund Board elects a Chair and a Vice-Chair for a two-year term. The Chair and Vice-Chair positions alternate between representatives of the donor voting group and the implementing voting group.

*****

The Global Fund is a unique global public/private partnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. This partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities represents a new approach to international health financing. The Global Fund works in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral organizations to supplement existing efforts dealing with the three diseases.

By mid-2009, Global Fund-supported programs are estimated to have averted more than 3.5 million deaths by providing AIDS treatment for 2.3 million people, antituberculosis treatment for 5.4 million people and by distributing 88 million insecticide-treated bed nets for the prevention of malaria worldwide. The Global Fund has so far approved funding in 140 countries worth US$ 16 billion.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Black Lion Hospital: Addis Ababa

Black Lion

The largest hospital in all of Ethiopia is Black Lion. I again was granted unlimited access to video and photograph the conditions of this public facility. Black Lion is the last referral hospital in Ethiopia, if your illness requires more care then what they can offer, the next place you will go is Nairobi, Kenya and from there to South Africa. This hospital sees approximately 370,000- 400,000 patients a year but the exact number is not known. They have 800 beds, with 130 specialists, 50 non-teaching doctors. This is the largest teaching hospital for the University of Addis Medical School in Ethiopia, so there are about 350 Residents and 600 Interns. The emergency department sees around 80,000 patients a year and they just started a new trauma unit in the recent months. This hospital is a government runs hospital and with hundreds of staff and personal, I expected to find this facility in much better shape. I did not.

I was very pleased to meet with the Medical Director Dr. Daniels, head of the entire facility. He was warm and welcoming but he offered me the same word of caution about how many come through the hospital but are never seen again since the problems are so overwhelming. Again, we were extremely luck to actually videotape the conditions of the hospital because most times the government does not want this out to the public. To be honest even with the stamp of approval of the Medical Director and the Health officials, ward after ward we would have to call the head of security to get them to talk to the head of that department to let us in to film.

What is interesting is that, an American from Chicago is who contracted through John Hopkins to be the Bio Medical Engineer there, took us on the tour and she specifically asked the Medical Director were there any areas off limits and he said no. She was very happy to show us all the areas and many are most disturbing. One of the biggest problems again is all the waste that literally sits everywhere. Equipment once again that comes without instruction manuals, broken, label for parts only (which mean you would have to have the exact piece of equipment which never happens) and just the array of metal, and wood and old boilers, generator, autoclaves that sit Mold all over the ceilings and walls for years because there is no proper way to get rid of it.

The stacks of scrape metal and wood sit in huge piles and you would think that some of this could be sold to generate money for the hospital but because it is a government facility everything has to be logged and check in order to insure no one is making a profit individually. So it sits, everywhere, taking up valuable space in a facility that is way over crowded. They do try to reuse and repurpose things but it is too much, they are drowning in all the waste everywhere.

In the boiler room I counted three huge boilers plus one outside that were completely broken, currently there is only one working. The only place in the hospital that has hot water is the laundry room with has no working dyers, so every piece of laundry for 800 beds has to be hung to dry. The hospital has not had hot water for over 8 years. This city hospital is better off then the rural ones because it does have running water indoors. Honestly though they have no idea how long the last Scrape Metal boiler will hold out before the water will not be able to be pumped out to the hospital. Currently the top floors of the hospital receive no water since the one boiler is not strong enough to push the water that far.

It pretty much is the same for the generator. Sine there is a power shortage; the generator is used every other day to provide power for the entire hospital. There is a concern with it’s over use the generator will not last long and then they will be powerless. There is an old German made generator from the 50’s that still sits there but has not been used in decades.

The most disturbing things were to see the black mold growing on the walls everywhere. It is well documented that mold make a person sick and here it was everywhere but worst it was on the ceilings and walls of the kitchen. So the stream rises from the food and the mold literally drips from the ceiling into the pots of the meals prepared from over 1000 people daily. It was horrible. They know it is a problem and they had in the budget to start Wood piles.. of broken furniture a need kitchen but when is the issue???


Black Lion only has one working autoclave to sterilize instruments, out of 3 large ones that are just sitting next to each other. Another amazing things is that each day the nurses hand roll thousands of bandages for patient use, since they do not have a sterile package bandage, they can use. So bandages are just sitting around on table, and everywhere else as nurses package them by hand. With lack of resources in these hospitals infection control goes right out the window.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Obama appoints Mehret Mandefro as a White House Fellow

PRESIDENT OBAMA APPOINTS 2009-2010 CLASS OF WHITE HOUSE FELLOWS

WASHINGTON, DC – The White House announced today the appointment of 15 outstanding men and women to serve as White House Fellows. The 2009-2010 class of White House Fellows represents a diverse cross-section of professions including medicine, business, media, education, non-profit and state government, as well as two branches of the U.S. military. The 2009-2010 class of Fellows and their biographies are included below.

"We are thrilled that these exceptional men and women will be joining us here in Washington for the next year," said First Lady Michelle Obama. "The program not only allows for a variety of perspectives to come together, offering expertise and experience to benefit the administration’s efforts, but these Fellows in turn carry what they’ve learned to their own communities to benefit Americans far beyond the walls of the White House."

The White House Fellows Program was created in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to give promising American leaders "first hand, high-level experience with the workings of the Federal government, and to increase their sense of participation in national affairs." This unique position in our nation’s government encourages active citizenship and service to the nation. The Fellows also take part in an education program designed to broaden their knowledge of leadership, policy formulation, military operations, and current affairs. Community service is another important component of the program, and Fellows participate in service projects throughout the year in the Washington, DC area. Since 1964, over 600 outstanding American men and women have participated in the White House Fellows program, each chosen because of their extraordinary leadership ability and service to others.

Selection as a White House Fellow is highly competitive and based on a record of remarkable professional achievement early in one’s career, evidence of leadership potential, a proven commitment to public service, and the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute successfully at the highest levels of the Federal government. Throughout its history, the program has fostered leaders in many fields including Admiral Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence, former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, U.S. Representative Joe Barton, writer Doris Kearns Goodwin, former Travelocity CEO Michelle Peluso, former CNN Chairman and CEO Tom Johnson, former Univision President Luis Nogales, and U.S. Court of Appeals Judges M. Margaret McKeown and Deanell Tacha.

Additional information about the White House Fellows program is available here: www.whitehouse.gov/fellows.

2009-2010 Class of White House Fellows

Mehret Mandefro, 32. Hometown: Alexandria, VA. Mehret Mandefro is a primary care physician and HIV prevention researcher. She most recently was a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania and a Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. Her research addresses the intersection of violence prevention and HIV prevention and the application of digital media in translating research. She completed a Primary Care internal medicine residency at Montefiore Hospital where she founded a nonprofit called TruthAIDS that is focused on health literacy efforts among vulnerable populations. Mehret is the managing editor for www.truthaids.org and conducts workshops on HIV prevention, health disparities, and the public health uses of media nationally and internationally as part of TruthAIDS’ outreach efforts. Her ethnographic work about HIV positive women's lives in the South Bronx and Ethiopia is the subject of a full-feature documentary film entitled All of Us, which premiered on Showtime Networks for World AIDS Day and is used nationwide by community-based organizations and universities as an educational tool. Mehret received a BA cum laude in Anthropology and a Medical Doctorate from Harvard University, and a Masters of Science in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as a Fulbright Scholar.
Read Full story at:
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/10181

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Ethiopia Health Ministry says H1N1 flu virus not detected in any other person

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — The Ministry of Health said H1N1 flu virus has not been detected in any other person so far except the two Ethiopian students, who were treated last Saturday.

The Ministry said the government has made the necessary preparation to control the virus.

Ministry’s public relations directorate director Ahmed Emano urged the public not be shocked by baseless rumors concerning the virus. He also proved to be false the hearsay information saying vaccination is being given in the city to prevent the virus

Ahmed said the virus was detected in two of three students who came here from the USA last Saturday .The students returned home after receiving treatment.

So far, the cause of the virus has not been yet known.

The director urged the public to follow attentively update information about the disease.

More than 80 countries are now reporting cases of human infection with H1N1 flu and 163 deaths. Cases of the flu are also reported in Africa in Egypt, Morocco and South Africa, according to WHO.

The symptoms of this new H1N1 flu virus in people include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with this new H1N1 virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting.

The ministry urged the public to provide information to St. Paulos Hospital through phone line 011 2 75 01 25 when they observe symptoms of the virus.

- ENA

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

University to open Dermatology, STD department

University of Gondar, one of state owned universities, has announced that it has opened the first department for Dermatology and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD).


Department head Dr. Kasahun Dessalegn told ENA that the department established this month will begin training in the coming two years.


The department has finalized designing of curriculum and it will train experts in nurse, and health officer level.


The department will contribute a lot to address skin problems which is problem for about 80 percent of the population.


Dr. Kasahun said the number of dermatology specialists in the country is not more than over 50 and this indicates acute shortage of processionals in the field.


Until the department goes operational, a team consisting of dermatology specialist has already established to give service in Gondar Hospital.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Minelik Hospital Gets Optical Production Unit

Addis Abeba — Minelik II Hospital, one of the country's long serving hospitals on Friday inaugurated an optical production unit in its compound in an effort to deliver better services to eye patients.

The unit is the result of partnership between Vision Aid Overseas (VAO) and Donald and Atchison's (D&A) company to produce 40 eye glasses to produce on a daily basis and to dispense with low cost.

The eye service unit has cost workshop with the capital of 75 thousand USD.

Previously the hospital was not having spectacle production unit.

According to Tezera Kifle, Executive Director of Minelik II hospital, having the opportunity to establish optical work-shop within the hospital, is instrumental in helping the needy people and diversify the service.

"Formerly the hospital prescribes people to buy from other optical centers, that waste extra money time and also the hospital lost its income," Tezera said during the inaugural at the hospital.

The production unit aimed to help those groups of people who suffered from low vision and visual impairment, to offer correct their problems with eye glasses.

Visual impairment due to refractive error is one of the main causes of low vision and blindness particularly in Ethiopia and the world at large.

The optical workshop will operate by three employees, trained in the profession.

Since April , the optical workshop has dispensed 119 pairs of spectacles to patients.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Ethiopia confirms first cases of H1N1

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia has confirmed its first cases of H1N1 flu virus, Health Minister Tewedros Adhanhom said on Friday.

It was the second country after South Africa to report the deadly flu.

"Since swine flu was declared in Mexico, Ethiopia has been free of the disease. But today we can confirm two cases," he said.

Both were teenage girls who arrived back in the country on Saturday for a break from their U.S. high school, he said.

"We have enough drugs to treat 100,000 people should it break out," Tewedros said.

(Reporting by Barry Malone, writing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura)

Thursday, June 11, 2009

SMART Aid helps Ethiopia halve malaria deaths in two years

As ONE continues to advocate for SMART Aid, we’ll be bringing you examples on the ONE Blog of how effective development assistance, when implemented correctly, can save lives:

More than 50 million people in Ethiopia live in areas at risk of malaria. At the turn of the decade, the disease was killing more than 29,000 children a year. In 2005, the Ethiopian government unveiled an ambitious strategy, with donor support, to deliver two mosquito nets to every family at risk. By January 2008, 20.5 million bed nets had been delivered and a third of at-risk children were sleeping in safety (up from two per cent in 2005). Within three years of the start of the program, cases of malaria, and death rates, had been halved. This success was also thanks to delivery of effective malaria treatment, which can cost as little as US$2 per dose. Ethiopia is working to expand access to primary health services, particularly through the training of two health extension workers per village. Thirty thousand young women have been mobilized to transfer health skills to communities, a vital initiative in a country where health services often fail to reach those in isolated rural areas. The training of these health workers, and the provision of disease test kits and drugs, is paid for by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

-Nora Coghlan

Monday, June 8, 2009

Country's First Private Health Sector Exhibition Held Here

Addis Abeba — Some 200 representatives of private health clinics, hospitals, medical supply companies and financial institutions participated on the first ever private health sector exhibition.

The exhibition provided a unique opportunity for the private health sector to meet and share information in support of the growth of a high quality, affordable private health sector responsive to the needs of the people, USAID said in press statement Friday.

The exhibition under the theme of Strengthening and Growing Private Practices in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS is sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)'s Banking on Health Project which is funded by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the agency said.

The exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Government of Ethiopia and the Medical Association of Physicians in Private Practice, will support the development of the private health sector, and Ethiopia's partnership with the private health sector to improve safety, affordability and access to critical public health services, USAID said.

Dr. Yibeltal Assefa, Director of Health Services Ministry of Health, and USAID/Ethiopia Acting Deputy Director Gerald A. Cashion delivered remarks at the opening of the exhibition at Bole Rock Hotel.

In his remarks, Dr. Cashion said, "USAID is proud to sponsor this exhibition that will enable private medical clinic and hospital owners to obtain essential information, contacts, and inputs to help them sustain and improve their businesses." A variety of commercial representatives and exhibitors participated in the Private Health Sector Exhibition including: medical equipment suppliers, pharmaceutical suppliers and distributors, insurance companies, professional associations, medical schools, literature and book suppliers, a nod banks interested in lending to private health providers. The exhibition also has panel presentations and paper presentations by health providers, healthcare management experts, banks, and government representatives.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital starts construction of college of midwives

Addis Ababa - The Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital has launched construction of college of Midwives named The Hamlin College of Midwives.

Minister of Health Dr. Tewodros Adhanom and also Dr.Catherin Hamlin, founder of the hospital, inaugurated a temporary training center built to give service till finalization of construction of the college.

The school started training with only 12 students in the first intake. The college will graduate B.sc midwives in a three year direct entry program and will take 20 students for each year, the hospital told ENA in a statement.

Dr. Tewodros awarded a medal and certificate to Dr. Hamlin for her tremendous half a century service in Ethiopia.

The hospital, established by Dr. Catherine and her husband Reginald Hamlin 50 years ago, has been constructing five fistula treatment centers in Bahir Dar, Mekelle, Yirgalem, Harar and Mettu.

The Addis Ababa Fistula hospital has already treated more than 35,000 mothers suffering from an injury resulting from long unrelieved obstructed labor during child birth, the statement said

- ENA

Monday, June 1, 2009

Ground breaking ceremony to be held for “Tirunesh Beijing” Hospital construction

ENA - A corner stone is to be laid for the construction of a modern referral hospital in the metropolis named after the renowned Olympic gold medalist Tirunesh Dibaba at a cost of 97 million birr, the Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, Gu Xiaojie said.

While delivering a speech at the inauguration of the Gottera Interchange here on Sunday the ambassador announced that the corner stone would be laid for the construction of the hospital within the coming week.

The ambassador said the construction of the hospital is a manifestation of the level of relation between Ethiopia and China.

The hospital would be constructed in Akaki Sub-City where Akaki Health Station situated.

According to the sub-city health office, the hospital would serve over 300,000 people upon going fully operational after 18 months.

The name of the hospital would be “Tirunesh Beijing” to commemorate the shinning victory of the athlete at Beijing Olympics.

A 23-year-old Tirunesh Dibaba clinched double gold medal in 10,000 m and 5000 meter in Beijing, became the first woman ever to achieve the Olympic 5000/10,000m double.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Implications of the HIV testing protocol for refusal bias in seroprevalence surveys

HIV serosurveys have become important sources of HIV prevalence estimates, but these estimates may be biased because of refusals and other forms of non-response. We investigate the effect of the post-test counseling study protocol on bias due to the refusal to be tested.

Methods: Data come from a nine-month prospective study of hospital admissions in Addis Ababa during which patients were approached for an HIV test.

Patients had the choice between three consent levels: testing and post-test counseling (including the return of HIV test results), testing without post-test counseling, and total refusal. For all patients, information was collected on basic sociodemographic background characteristics as well as admission diagnosis.

The three consent levels are used to mimic refusal bias in serosurveys with different post-test counseling study protocols. We first investigate the covariates of consent for testing.

Second, we quantify refusal bias in HIV prevalence estimates using Heckman regression models that account for sample selection.

Results: Refusal to be tested positively correlates with admission diagnosis (and thus HIV status), but the magnitude of refusal bias in HIV prevalence surveys depends on the study protocol. Bias is larger when post-test counseling and the return of HIV test results is a prerequisite of study participation (compared to a protocol where test results are not returned to study participants, or, where there is an explicit provision for respondents to forego post-test counseling).

We also find that consent for testing increased following the introduction of antiretroviral therapy in Ethiopia. Other covariates of refusal are age (non-linear effect), gender (higher refusal rates in men), marital status (lowest refusal rates in singles), educational status (refusal rate increases with educational attainment), and counselor.

Conclusions: The protocol for post-test counseling and the return of HIV test results to study participants is an important consideration in HIV prevalence surveys that wish to minimize refusal bias.

The availability of ART is likely to reduce refusal rates.

Author: Georges ReniersTekebash ArayaYemane BerhaneGail DaveyEduard Sanders
Credits/Source: BMC Public Health 2009, 9:163

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Diarrhoea outbreak kills 20 in Ethiopia : UN

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — An outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea has killed 20 people out of more than 600 cases in Ethiopia in one month, the UN said on Tuesday.

"A total of 649 cases and 20 deaths of acute watery diarrhoea were reported ... between 13 April and 17 May 2009," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.

Citing ministry of health records, OCHA said the outbreak was confined to areas in the south, southeast and northeastern parts of the country.

UN agencies have supplied adequate water treatment chemicals to cater for over 85,000 people in the month.

The highly contagious disease killed more than 870 people out of some 76,000 cases around the same period in 2007.

It is common among people with suppressed immunity. In severe cases and when accompanied by vomiting it can lead to light-headedness, weakness, confusion, kidney failure and possibly death.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Ethiopia shall have pediatric hospital: Standing Committee

Addis Ababa) - Capacity Building Affairs Standing Committee of the House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR) underscored a need to establish pediatric hospital in Ethiopia as the children constitute a significant portion in the national population.

While visiting the Black Lion Medical School and the Specialized Referral Hospital on Friday, Head of the Standing Committee Teklie Tesema said the specialized hospital has serious capacity limitations to provide efficient medical services to children.

In fact, Teklie said, the problems related to provision of pediatric medical services in the hospital has developed from worse to worst over the last two years.

Hence, he said, the standing committee will be requesting both the HPR and the Executive Wing of the Ethiopian government for establishment of a pediatric hospital in the country in a bid to ease these problems.

Despite the problems, both the school and the specialized referral hospital have been exerting utmost efforts toward discharging their respective duties and responsibilities, according to the standing committee.

Dean of the School, Dr. Miliard Deribew and Head of the Specialized Hospital, Dr. Damiel Zewdie gave briefings to the members of standing committee and responded to questions raised by the committee.

- ENA

Friday, May 22, 2009

Predictors of defaulting from completion of child immunization in south Ethiopia, May 2008- A case control study

Epidemiological investigations of recent outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases have indicated that incomplete immunization was the major reason for the outbreaks. In Ethiopia, full immunization rate is low and reasons for defaulting from immunization are not studied well.

The objective of the study was to identify the predictors of defaulting from completion of child immunization among children between ages 9-23 months in Wonago district, South Ethiopia.

Methods: Unmatched case control study was conducted in eight Kebeles (lowest administrative unit) of Wonago district in south Ethiopia. Census was done to identify all cases and controls.

A total of 266 samples (133 cases and 133 controls) were selected by simple random sampling technique. Cases were children in the age group of 9 to 23 months who did not complete the recommended immunization schedule.

Pre-tested structured questionnaire were used for data collection. Data was analyzed using SPSS 15.0 statistical software.Result: Four hundred eighteen (41.7%) of the children were fully vaccinated and four hundred twelve (41.2%) of the children were partially vaccinated.

The BCG: measles defaulter rate was 76.2%. Knowledge of the mothers about child immunization, monthly family income, postponing child immunization and perceived health institution support were the best predictors of defaulting from completion of child immunization.

Conclusion: Mothers should be educated about the benefits of vaccination and the timely administration of vaccines.

Author: Henok TadesseAmare DeribewMirkuzie Woldie
Credits/Source: BMC Public Health 2009, 9:150

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Yared Tekabe’s Groundbreaking Research in Atherosclerosis




Republished: May20, 2009.

New York (Tadias) - Dr. Yared Tekabe enjoys doing most of his reflections while sitting anonymously with his laptop at cafĂ©s in Harlem. When he’s not there, Tekabe is busy running studies in cardiovascular disease detection and prevention at his lab in Columbia University’s William Black building in upper Manhattan. Last November, Tekabe’s groundbreaking work on non-invasive atherosclerosis detection and molecular imaging was published in the American Heart Association’s journal, Circulation, along with an editorial citing its clinical implications.

Dr Tekabe’s success has helped his laboratory, headed by Dr Lynne Johnson, to receive another $1.6 million four-year grant from the National Institute of Health to continue his research, and Tekabe hopes that in a few years time his work can help heart disease prevention efforts and early detection of atherosclerosis in humans.

“What is atherosclerosis in layman terms?” I ask him, trying hard to correctly pronounce this tongue twister. He breaks it down to its linguistic roots. “Atherosclerosis comes from the Greek roots athere which means gruel, and skleros which means hardness or hardening,” he explains. Further research in Wiki reveals that atherosclerosis is a condition affecting our arterial blood vessels, which transport blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Atherosclerosis is the chronic condition in which inflammation of the walls of our blood vessels lead to hardening of the arteries.

“Atherosclerosis is the underlying cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD),” Tekabe says. “The result is progressive closing of the blood vessels by fat and plaque deposits, which block and further restrict blood flow. In more serious cases it may also lead to clots in the aorta (main artery coming out of the heart) or carotids (arteries supplying blood to the brain) that may dislodge and travel to other parts of the body such as the brain, causing stroke. If the clot is in the leg, for example, it can lead to gangrene. Deposits of fat and inflammatory cells that build up in the walls of the coronary arteries (supplying blood to the heart muscle) can rupture leading to blood clots. Such clots in an artery that supplies blood to the heart muscle will suddenly close the artery and deprive the heart muscle of oxygen causing a heart attack. In the case of very sudden closure of an artery a clot can cause sudden cardiac death.”

“It’s the Tim Russert story,” Tekabe says, providing a recent example of what undetected levels of plaque formation in our bodies can lead to. EverydayHealth.com, an online consumer health portal, had described the famed former MSNBC ‘Meet the Press’ host’s sudden heart attack as being caused by a plaque rupture in a coronary artery. Russert had previously been diagnosed with heart disease, but his atherosclerosis was asymptomatic. He had not experienced the common signs of chest pain and other heart attack symptoms to warn him or his doctors of his true condition. The undetected inflammation in his vessels and the subsequent rupture of plaque led to his sudden heart attack and untimely death. This is not uncommon, however. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease “is the leading cause of death for both women and men in the United States, and women account for 51% of the total heart disease deaths.” There is even more grim news: United States data for 2004 has revealed that the first physical symptom of heart disease was heart attack and sudden death for about 65% of men and 47% of women with CVD.

The risk factors for atherosclerosis are well known and Tekabe runs through the list with me: “diabetes, obesity, stress, smoking, high blood pressure, family history of CVD, and diet” he says. “But of all the factors that I have mentioned, I would say diet is the most important one to change,” he adds. Food items such as red meat, butter, whole milk, cheese, ice cream, egg yolk, and those containing trans fat all put us at higher risk for plaque formation. The American Heart Association recommends eating fish such as salmon, herring and trout instead of red meat, as well as eating food that is steamed, boiled or baked instead of fried. It is better to use corn, canola, or olive oil instead of butter, and to eat more fiber (fruit, vegetables, and whole grain). Notwithstanding that March is deemed National Nutrition Month by the American Heart Association, changing our diet is largely emphasized in CVD prevention. We should also be exercising at least 30 minutes each day.

“Early non-invasive detection of the presence of inflammation and plaque could save lives,” Tekabe points out. “But the problem is two-fold: those who suffer from atherosclerosis do not display warning signs until it’s too late, and for doctors, a non-invasive method of detecting atherosclerosis is by and large not a possibility.” Research by Tekabe and others may soon change the way doctors can detect atherosclerosis.

Using molecular imaging techniques that were previously popular in cancer biology research, Tekabe and his colleagues have discovered non-invasive methods of detecting RAGE, a receptor first discovered in 1992 and thought to have causative implications in a host of chronic diseases ranging from diabetes to arthritis. Tekabe, collaborating with Dr Ann Marie Schmidt who has shown that RAGE receptors play a key role in atherosclerotic inflammatory response, notes that these receptors can be detected non-invasively in mice that have been fed a high-fat, high cholesterol diet.

“In the past, although we knew about the RAGE receptor, especially in the study of diabetes, we were not able to detect it without performing an autopsy of the lab mice. Clearly, in the case of humans it would be pointless if we said that we detected atherosclerosis in the patient after the patient had died,” Tekabe explains. “Therefore, it was imperative that our research showed a more non-invasive method, detecting RAGE receptors and locations of inflammation while the subject was still alive. The first step would be to test it on mice, which we have, and then perhaps on larger animals such as pigs, so that this research could be successfully translated to help non-invasively detect atherosclerosis in its early stages in human beings.”

Read the rest of story at :
http://www.tadias.com/2009/03/17/ethiopian-american-scientist-yared-tekabes-groundbreaking-research-in-atherosclerosis/

Monday, May 18, 2009

The blind see the light of day in Debre Markos

Beginning in 2004, and after a secondary eye unit in the Debre Markos Hospital was built and furnished in 2007 by Christian Blind Mission (CBM) International and Rotary Club Stiftland, about 50,000 eye patients had received various treatments. About 5,000 of the 50,000 were those who had been blinded by trachoma, glaucoma and cataract but who are now able to see the light of day as a result of a simple surgery at the clinic.

Eye patients come to the Debre Markos clinic from nearby towns and villages and from as far away as Gondar and Wollga, Dr Mulu Lisanework, senior prevention of blindness program officer of CBM told The Reporter. The fact that patients come to the clinic from the vicinity of Debre Markos in great number testifies to the quality of service the clinic offers and is a clear indication that blindness is a serious problem in northern Ethiopia, Dr Mulu said.

The eye unit in the Debre Markos Hospital is, therefore, engaged in accomplishing two missions: prevention and cure of blindness. And after a visit to the eye unit on Monday, CBM believes that it is doing what it was intended to do in the Amhara Regional State and is well on its way to achieving Vision 2020, the elimination of blindness by the year 2020.

In addition to the services Dr Yilikal Alemu, head of the eye unit and his assistants, provide at the clinic, patients benefit from the involvement of about ten nurses trained by CBM to go around villages and towns checking on peoples’ eyes, identifying what type of problem they have and referring them to the clinic for the appropriate kind of treatment.

Until a few years ago, most eye patients in the Amhara region had to travel to Addis Ababa for treatment or be doomed to blindness for the rest of their life if they were too poor to pay for transport, lodgings and hospital fees.

Now, some eye patients do not come to the clinic simply because they can not afford to pay the bus fare to Debre Markos. Therefore, when patients can not come to the clinic, the clinic goes to the patients.

Instead of waiting for all patients to come to the clinic, Dr Yilical and his team travel every month to Mota and Finote Selam within the Amhara region carrying all the necessary surgical equipment and spend about five days serving about 100 people a day according to their needs. That the clinic was opened in Debre Markos has been so ideal for its services to reach out to a great number of patients in Amhara which is one of the regions in Ethiopia most severely affected by blindness and other eye diseases.

Dr Mulu says that owing to the quality of services the clinic offers, its reputation has spread far and wide through patients who have been treated there and were satisfied with the results. The eye unit employs a cataract surgery technique called sutureless, which uses no stitches. This is currently the most advanced technique of eye surgery being used in India and Nepal and recommended for most developing countries.

Presently, CBM is training optical technicians in the Debre Markos Hospital to work in its optical workshop which is well furnished with the latest machines, lenses and frames.

Compared to the extent of the problem of blindness in Ethiopia, so far not much has been done and CBM’s contribution alone, although valuable, is not enough, Dr Mulu says. She recommends that the government deal with it seriously enough, if not as seriously as it is dealing with malaria and tuberculosis.

CBM has constructed and furnished secondary eye units in Jimma University, Debre Markos Hospital, Debre Berhan Hospital, Felege Hiwot Hospital, Arba Minch Hospital, Yigalem Hospital and Pawe in Benishangul Gumuz.

It is building similar secondary eye units in Woldiya, Amhara Regional State. One of CBM’s main fields of engagement in Ethiopia is “Vision 2020: The Right to Sight,” a global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness by the year 2020. To accomplish this, CBM involves itself in infrastructure and human resource development and disease control within eye medical care.

Christian Blind Mission is an international non-governmental organization which works through partners, enabling them to provide high quality preventive, curative, educational and rehabilitative services.
In a related development, Dr Mulu told The Reporter that the eye unit which CBM had built, furnished and inaugurated in February in Chiro, Oromia Regional Sate, but was closed the same day because the regional Health Bureau had not assigned a physician, just started services on April 27 because a new graduate ophthalmologist agreed to work there.

City health bureau questions Betezatha medic who examined Tilahun

Federal cake cut

Amhara set to lose out after census


By Kirubel Tadesse


Endorsed by the House of Federation last Friday, a new budget formula has been devised to calculate how the regions will share the 20 billion birr expected to be allotted to them by the Federal Government next budget year.

MORE
Lights out at export factories


By Yohannes Anberbir


Ethiopia’s power problems have reached a critical stage, forcing the state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) to incorporate all export-oriented factories into the rationing schedule.
So far, export factories were not included in the power rationing that started in March this year, due to the Government’s decision to exempt foreign currency generating factories.

MORE


Post office to take over some ETC operations


By Muluken Yewondwossen


The Ministry of Transport and Communication (MoTC) has ordered the state owned Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) to facilitate the shifting of some operations and duties of the corporation to the other organ under the ministry, the Ethiopian Postal Service (EPS).

MORE
Major power project nears completion


By Groum Abate


The Gilgel Gibe II hydropower generation project undertaken by the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation will be completed in the next two weeks.
Sources told Capital that the 420 MW plant would enjoy an informal opening in the next two weeks after completing the remaining 700 metres of a 27 km tunnel.
As the result of several unforeseen natural hazards, the project completion has been delayed for over a year.

MORE
Crash landing for airport chief


By Yohannes Anberbir


Deriba Kuma, Minster of Transport and Communication, (MoTC) sacked Eyobe Estifanos, head of Ethiopian Airport Enterprise,this week.
It is the first strong measure Deriba has taken since being promoted from his former position as head of the agriculture bureau of Oromia Regional State.

MORE
Sandford governors urged to delay status change

Parents demand patience until administering agency for endowment charities is established


By Elias Meseret

Concerned parents of children at Sandford School have written to the board of governors urging them to delay a planned move to register the school as an endowment charity.
The governors are eager to do this in light of the new Charities and Societies Proclamation, but the parents have suggested that the move should only be made when an agency to administer endowment charities has been established.
MORE

Big banks look to link with micro lenders


By Kirubel Tadesse


The Ethiopian Bankers Association, a group of private and state commercials banks, established a steering committee comprising state and private agencies to facilitate links between banks and micro financing institutions.

MORE
Customs strike gold

By Yohannes Anberbir

Last Sunday, customs intelligence officers were informed about a kilo of gold being smuggled to the capital from the eastern part of the country.
They were tipped off around midday, with information including the plate number of the truck suspected to contain the gold. They then had to wait for around six hours at a customs station in the Kaliti area.

MORE

Almost nine out of 10 vocational students fail exam


By Kirubel Tadesse

Of the 10,548 graduates of various Technical Educational and Vocational Education and Training Institutions (TEVET), only just over 11 per cent passed the national competence exam, Capital has learnt.

MORE
City health bureau questions Betezatha medic who examined Tilahun


Taskforce makes surprise visits to hospitals and clinics


By Elias Meseret


The Addis Ababa Health Bureau has told Capital that it has questioned the doctor at Betezatha Higher Clinic who examined the late Tilahun Gesesse.
It says this only happened after several days of failed efforts to reach the medic.

MORE

Tobacco enterprise to punish illegal traders

State monopoly to introduce Nyala Premium


By MulukenYewondwossen


The National Tobacco Enterprise (NTE) has announced that it will take severe measure against illegal cigarette distributors and traders in the near future.
When the operation starts it will shut superstores, including small shops who sell illegal products.

MORE
Safety net unravels due to donor deficiencies

By Yohannes Anberbir

Ethiopia unable to deliver aid under to beneficiaries the safety net program due to a shortfall from donors, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) has reported.
Currently there are 8.29 million people chronically affected by food insecurity. MoARD planned to deliver 509,917 metric tonnes of food to the affected people within the first half of the fiscal year, however, the ministry obtained only 396.7 metric tonnes of food from donors and distributed only a small amount of it.

MORE

Higher education bill in final stage


By Kirubel Tadesse


A new bill, which improves the 2003 Higher Education proclamation, in an effort to boost the quality of higher education, is on it way to parliament for final endorsement.
The Council of Ministers approved the bill, which oversees both state run and private higher educational institutions, during its 83rd regular meeting.

MORE
NGO help organisations deal with CSO law


Initiative Africa, an NGO promoting good governance, is developing a program to help business support associations (BSO) adapt to the new realities created by the recently enacted Law of Charitable Associations.
MORE
Animal laboratory opened

Dr Aberra Deressa, State Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, officially opened East Africa’s safest laboratory for diagnosis of animal diseases at the National Animal Health Diagnostic and Investigation Centre (NAHDIC) in Sebeta, on Friday, May 15.
MORE

Ethiopia to host World Public Health Congress


By Addis Mulugeta

The World Public Health Federation has nominated Ethiopia to host the 13th World Public Health Congress in 2012 that will discover what is happening in health sectors around the world.
Mengistu Asnake (MD) president of Ethiopian Public Health Association (EPHA) told Capital that this is a very important opportunity for developing countries, particularly Ethiopia, to gain knowledge of health sectors in developed nations.

MORE
Government protests UN malaria outbreak report

By Elias Meseret


The Ministry of Health has denied UN reports of a malaria outbreak in southern Ethiopia.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported this week that a malaria outbreak in many low and midland areas of Ethiopia is worsening the nutritional situation of Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPR), but the ministry said there is no outbreak at all.

MORE

Al-Jazeera food security report rejected by ministry

By Addis Mulugeta


The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) has rejected an Al-Jazeera report on the number of people who are suffering food shortages because of the failure of the meher rains.

MORE
Record number of accountants achieve global standard

By Groum Abate


A record number of Ethiopians celebrated success in their final ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) examinations at a ceremony held at the Sheraton Addis on Friday 15 May.

MORE

Cement imported to meet rising demand

By Groum Abate

The Government has started importing cement worth 44 million dollars to avoid interruptions to major construction projects. The move comes after two big cement factories, Mugher and Mesobe, were ordered to renovate their factories due to the shortage of electric power.

MORE

Toyota dealer celebrates 50 years of service

By Elias Meseret

The Motor and Engineering Company's (MOENCO) first Toyota franchise was established back in January 1959 when there was no such kind of business at the time in the country, thanks to the audacious vision of Mr. Lappine, founder of the company, and Mrs. Maroussia Lappine, his courageous partner.
The enterprise that started 50 years ago in a small garage with a capital of 200,000 birr in the heart of Addis Ababa, around the area commonly known as Mexico, 50 years ago, is now the biggest car sale outlet in Ethiopia.

MORE
Police gets more time to investigate plot suspects


By Kirubel Tadesse

Last Monday, the police was granted another fourteen days to investigate the alleged foiled plot to kill senior government officials.
The joint Anti-terror Taskforce of the National Intelligence, Security Service and the Federal Police operation first put 35 individuals under its custody on Friday, April 24.

MORE

Ethiopian pharma company receives international standard

By MulukenYewondwossen

Ethiopian pharmaceutical company, Sino-Ethiop Associate (SEA) received international Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification following a pharmaceutical inspection cooperation scheme.

MORE


Federal cake cut

Amhara set to lose out after census


By Kirubel Tadesse


Endorsed by the House of Federation last Friday, a new budget formula has been devised to calculate how the regions will share the 20 billion birr expected to be allotted to them by the Federal Government next budget year.
The effect of the controversial census released last December, which put Amhara State’s population below projection, means that it will be receiving a smaller share than in the past.
Some members of the House expect Amhara’s share to slide by some three per cent from what it pocketed last year and Ayalew Gobeze chairman of the House’s Standing Committee and also the president of Amhara State, says the budget allocation was done according to the latest census and that it would be redone if the Central Statistics Agency’s (CSA) investigation into the Amhara population leads to a readjustment before parliament announces next year’s budget.
The new budget, which will serve for the coming three financial years, introduces a new mechanism to allocate one per cent of the overall subsidies exclusively for the four less developed regions: Afar, Somalia, Benishangul Gumuz and Gambella.
The Federal Government apportioned 17 billion birr for regions in last year’s budget, but, according to the comprehensive macro economic and fiscal package for 2010 – 2012 by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED), which the Council of Ministers approved a month ago, three billion more will be diverted to regions this year.
The Formula?
The new formula is designed to provide equivalent service to citizens, while encouraging less developed regions. Previous formulas had considered revenues collected by the regions, however, it was a source of controversy, as House members, argued that it discouraged collection efforts in the regions. Because of this, the new formula only factors into its calculations 80 per cent of revenues and 90 per cent of expenditure,which ensures states are not punished for good performances.
The final numbers?
As per the new formula, Oromia takes the lion’s share by being awarded over 32.53 per cent from the overall subsidies. It is followed by Amhara with 23.3 per cent.
Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Regional State (SNNPR) ranks third with 19.9 per cent, while Somalia and Tigray are at numbers four and five respectively, with 8.43 and 7.04 percentages shares.
“We are not sure if the subsidies will cover the salaries we pay, due to salary improvements, but we want to share some of the pain our other regions who are least developed endure,” Shiferaw Shigute, SNNPR president said, pointing out that some of the areas in his state which have development levels that are low even when compared to the least developed regions, were not considered by the formula.
However, extraordinary factors, such as for security, desert allowance, and temperature influence on electrification costs, were considered for all relevant regions.
Lights out at export factories


By Yohannes Anberbir


Ethiopia’s power problems have reached a critical stage, forcing the state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) to incorporate all export-oriented factories into the rationing schedule.
So far, export factories were not included in the power rationing that started in March this year, due to the Government’s decision to exempt foreign currency generating factories.
Since then, the factories have been receiving power throughout the week, but the special treatment granted to them has not lasted
The corporation sent an official letter to all the factories explaining its failure to meet their electricity demands.
The corporation has been forced to suspend the privilege due to the severe reduction of water volumes in all the hydroelectric station reservoirs, the letter signed by Mesfin Berhane, head of distributions systems of the corporation, reads.
The factories will face eight days without power per month starting from May 11, 2009, according to the letter, which also details the schedule.
More than 13 leather processing and shoe factories and textile factories will be challenged by EEPCo’s latest measure. Leather and leather products are the fourth larget export items of the country, fetching over 106 million dollars last year.
The power shortage tied with price reductions in foreign markets will harm the factories’ profitability, but a management member of the biggest tannery, Ethiopian Tannery, told Capital they understand the Government has no option.
The Government also ordered all cement factories to stop production last Monday, aiming to retain the remaining generating capacity of the power stations.
The measures taken against local cement factories will aggravate the current cement shortage, however, the Government has decided to import two million quintals of cement, from Pakistan and Yemen the coming two months to combat the problem.
Despite the current foreign reserve shortage, the Government budgeted 44 million dollars to import the cement.
Currently, the country’s foreign reserves stand at 850 million dollars, a level that can only support six weeks’ worth of imports, according to data from the National Bank of Ethiopia.

Post office to take over some ETC operations


By Muluken Yewondwossen


The Ministry of Transport and Communication (MoTC) has ordered the state owned Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) to facilitate the shifting of some operations and duties of the corporation to the other organ under the ministry, the Ethiopian Postal Service (EPS).
A letter signed by Driba Kuma, the Minister of Transport and Communication, instructed both organisations to study how they could work jointly on the post paid (mobile, internet, and landline) services, and how to transfer the billing system, public phone service, and the corporation’s value added works to the post office.
The letter also recommended the postal service handle ETC employee’s payroll and that the two organisations work together on the sale of low cost mobile apparatuses.
“A new plan is being examined by both parties before implementation” a senior high level official at the corporation told Capital.
Currently, EPS is working on the sale of SIM cards by commission with the corporation.
ETC’s management passed a decision in 2004 to outsource its mobile SIM card sales, in order to focus on infrastructure development in the sector. Five private companies - Dire Electronics, Garade, Haron Computer, Admas Tele, Glorious and EPS - have initially been selected to distribute the cards for a price of 368.10 birr, which then reduced by 54 per cent to 169.10 birr a few months ago.
In related developments, after months of delay, the state monopoly ETC announced that in the coming weeks it will handover top up card sales to selected private companies who won the bid with a margin of three per cent commission. The move follows the boost ETC received from the increase in the number of pre paid mobile telephone users.
However, the corporation did not give out the subcontract over the last seven months, despite ETC’s board posting a letter in its branches announcing the winners.
“We were working on the risks and market impact assessment of the subcontracting in relation to the new tariff adjustment of the SIM card. That is the main cause for the delay,” a senior ETC official on condition of anonymity told Capital, “but we will outsource the service in the next couple of weeks to the winners,” he added.
Currently, ETC is carrying out the distribution of voucher card for retailers by itself.
In the nine month performance report of MoTC, disclosed to parliament two weeks ago, mobile service sales showed a shocking underperformance by twenty per cent, mainly due to network congestion and late projects. The report explained that the first nine months of the current budget year saw overall telecom service sales falling from the target at an average of nineteen per cent.
The number of mobile subscribers is mounting and the state telecom monopoly ETC says it now has 3,119,493 customers enjoying the service of its current capacity to support nearly 4.8 million customers.
According to the MoTC report, the disappointing sales are partly caused by the ongoing optimisation work on a number of vendors’ networks.
Major power project nears completion


By Groum Abate


The Gilgel Gibe II hydropower generation project undertaken by the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation will be completed in the next two weeks.
Sources told Capital that the 420 MW plant would enjoy an informal opening in the next two weeks after completing the remaining 700 metres of a 27 km tunnel.
As the result of several unforeseen natural hazards, the project completion has been delayed for over a year.
Six months ago the project was halted for several days after the drilling machine got stuck in muddy terrain. This came just after striking a hot spring, a development that forced the diversion of the tunnel.
Gilgel Gibe II is a continuation of the Gilgel Gibe I project, using the water discharged by the dam currently in use and channeled through the 27km tunnel under Fofa Mountain.
The project cost is projected to be 373 million Euros. When the Gilgel Gibe II hydropower plant becomes operational it is expected to increase the electricity generating capacity of Ethiopia by 30 to 40 per cent.
Though the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) has started a number of generation projects, the country's annual power demand growth of 16 per cent has risen faster than it could keep up with, causing huge power shortages. Accordingly, power shedding has already begun to affect the state power monopoly's customers, as the Tekkeze and Gilgel Gibe II hydropower projects are in danger of not being operational during the coming rainy season.
EEPCo recently announced that geological, geophysical and hydro-geological phenomenon have caused construction of the nearly complete dams in the country to lag behind schedule. The two dams, Tekezze and Gilgel Gibe II, are said to have been delayed for almost a year after the projects faced geological phenomena that would cost the state power monopoly, EEPCo, billions of birr.
The two billion birr Tekeze hydroelectric power project was faced with landslides where the arch dam was constructed. This led to an additional 400 million birr cost to stabilise the surrounding land.
Crash landing for airport chief


By Yohannes Anberbir


Deriba Kuma, Minster of Transport and Communication, (MoTC) sacked Eyobe Estifanos, head of Ethiopian Airport Enterprise,this week.
It is the first strong measure Deriba has taken since being promoted from his former position as head of the agriculture bureau of Oromia Regional State.
Eyobe had served for five years as director of air transport and planning at the Ethiopian Civil Aviation and he had been heading the Airport Enterprise for the last two years.
However, he was not able to build his career at the enterprise because of the sudden move of MoTC: "I was attending a three day conference in Dubai last week and when I got in to my office early this week, I found the letter from the ministry," Eyobe told Capital.
The letter ordered me to return any equipment and documents belongs to the enterprise and to leave office, without explaining any reasons for the move Eyobe added.
"I didn't feel anything, except to wonder why it happened?" said Eyobe, expressing surprise at his dismissal.
It is impossible to link Eyobe's dismissal with the Business Process Reengineering, because it is not at its implementation stage, a source said.
The ministry appointed Shiferaw Alemu to replace Eyobe. Shiferaw had been serving as head of Engineering and Regional Airports Bureau, according to sources in the enterprise.
Capital's attempts to reach Minister Deriba were not successful.
The Airport Enterprise is a Federal Government entity responsible for administering and building airports in the country.
Sandford governors urged to delay status change

Parents demand patience until administering agency for endowment charities is established


By Elias Meseret

Concerned parents of children at Sandford School have written to the board of governors urging them to delay a planned move to register the school as an endowment charity.
The governors are eager to do this in light of the new Charities and Societies Proclamation, but the parents have suggested that the move should only be made when an agency to administer endowment charities has been established.
The letter came at a time when the board of governors is scheduled to conduct their annual general meeting and register the school next Saturday as an endowment charity.
Parents say this is a scheme that is neither legal nor appropriate since the agency that will administer endowment charities is not yet set up.
The letter states that the proclamation has given the school the option of registering either as a charitable endowment, or a charitable society.
"The agency which has been given the responsibility of administering the new law is not operational yet. It has also announced publicly that all associations and endowments should conduct their usual businesses without interruption until the agency is up and running," the parents' statement read.
According to parents, while these are significant developments with positive implications for the future of the Sandford International School Association, the board of governors are trying to come up with their own 'by-laws' so as to gain re-election to the board of their planned endowment charity.
"First, SISA can pursue legality not only within the framework of a charitable endowment, but also under a charitable society. Secondly, parents are given an ample time to thoroughly deliberate on the implications of both charitable endowment and charitable society. So, parents, along with teachers and associate members, can conduct informal discussions on all relevant matters on their own, without the constraints of structured meetings that hardly allow open and frank discussions to take place," the letter reads.
The parents argue that the draft statute circulated by the board in a form of 'by-laws' falls short of what is legally required, be it for a charitable endowment or a charitable society. They say this is a matter best left for the agency. "As far as we are concerned, no lawyer, board or parent body has a final say on the legal form or content of the document, except the authorised agency," the parents argued.
Accordingly, they advised the board to refrain from endorsing any document that has not been given the green light by the registering agency. "To do so otherwise will be nothing more than an exercise in second guessing the work of the agency. Let the agency be operational first, then, we will endorse a document that is appropriate for our circumstance."
Some parents told Capital that the current board of governors, comprising of five Ethiopians and five British citizens, have finished their term, so election should be held on the general assembly meeting and a 'Blue Ribbon Board' should be elected.
The parents have long been protesting the Board of Governor's document (by-law) entitled 'Sandford International Endowment Foundation Memorandum of Association', which they say was prepared and unanimously approved by the board. Capital’s effort to contact the board of governor s failed.

Big banks look to link with micro lenders


By Kirubel Tadesse


The Ethiopian Bankers Association, a group of private and state commercials banks, established a steering committee comprising state and private agencies to facilitate links between banks and micro financing institutions.
Official data shows micro financers have over 2.2 million active borrowers with an outstanding loan portfolio of approximately 4.6 billion birr. The commercial banks now see potentially big markets among micro financers dominated areas.
"We as institutions were not set up to provide loans as small as micro financers do," Leikun Berhanu, Ethiopian Bankers Association (EBA) President said, explaining that partnering with micro financers is a must if commercial banks are to expand outside the main cites.

A study, which resulted in the establishment of the steering committee, explained that commercial banks suffer inflexible systems and slow rates of loan disbursement with high collateral oriented policy. According to the study conducted by Partners Consultancy and Information Services, the commercial banks' weaknesses can be addressed with micro financer involvement, which in turn will help micro financers with their problems of lack of access to capital markets and funds.
The half day workshop organised by EBA debated possible linkage models for banks and micro financing institutions.
The micro financing institutions twelve year performance, which mobilized 1.6 billion birr in savings, is the next big market, as the 31 bankers gathered at Ghion Hotel last Thursday agreed. But a representative of the Development Bank of Ethiopia Rural Financial Intermediation Programme (RUFIP) is less enthusiastic about the realisation of the partnership.
"The mandate of the steering committee is vague as to whether the composition will allow it to direct policy either to the regulator or to the commercial banks to revise collateral oriented loans," Bahiru Ayalew of RUFIP said, adding that the commitment of the banks should start by looking into their own loan policies.
The regulator, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) doesn't see why it will be an obstacle, as long as it keeps on playing its three key tasks: stabilising prices, creating a sound financial system and maintaining loan quality.
Muluneh Alemu from the NBE agreed to the establishment of the steering committee, which comprises other state agencies like Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the ten year old Association of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions (AEMFI), which has a reputable record of representing its 29 members.
Customs strike gold

By Yohannes Anberbir

Last Sunday, customs intelligence officers were informed about a kilo of gold being smuggled to the capital from the eastern part of the country.
They were tipped off around midday, with information including the plate number of the truck suspected to contain the gold. They then had to wait for around six hours at a customs station in the Kaliti area.
The suspected truck arrived at the customs station around 6pm, but it passed through the usual inspection process and no gold was found on it.
However, the customs intelligence unit had no doubt about their information, which led them and the Federal Police to secretly drive behind the truck with the intention of locating collaborators. Four hours were spent following the truck, but they didn't find any other people involved.
Finally, the intelligence unit ordered the police members to stop the truck and arrest the driver and a passenger.
At the request of the intelligence officers, the police checked the two side boxes of the truck and found six bars of gold inside.
"We submitted the gold to the National Bank of Ethiopia the next day following authentication of the gold at the Geological Survey," Ephram Mekonnen, public relations manager of the Revenue and Customs Authority told Capital.
According to him, the bars of gold totally weighed 15.6 kilograme.
The following day the authority brought the suspects to the Federal First Instance Court, where they obtained 14 extra investigation days.
"We are investigating the suspects' links," said Ephram.

Almost nine out of 10 vocational students fail exam


By Kirubel Tadesse

Of the 10,548 graduates of various Technical Educational and Vocational Education and Training Institutions (TEVET), only just over 11 per cent passed the national competence exam, Capital has learnt.
Offered by the Ministry of Education (MoE), the national competence exam was introduced last year after being designed for Ethiopian industries to enjoy qualified graduates with a National Competence Certificate. Only 1, 203 students (11.4 per cent) qualified for the certificate, official data has revealed.
The certificate does not only certify TEVET graduates, but is also offered to certify professionals with years of practice, who have been educated informally. MoE also put passing the exam as one criterion for TEVET students to join academic studies.
Additionally, the story of the teachers at TEVET is not that far from their students, a nine month performance report of the Ministry of Capacity Building, revealed last week.
The ministry's report to parliament's standing committee, explained that TEVET reform is a component of the Engineering Capacity Building Program (ecbp) - an Ethiopian program established under the Ministry of Capacity Building with the support of the German government. There has also been under qualification of TEVE instructors - only 161 of 4067 teachers who sat for the assessment were found to be qualified.
Yilma Tibebu, from the Ministry's Public Relation Office, said the latest number are enouraging: "It does not mean that once the candidates didn't qualify they will be fired, rather works to build their capacity will follow.
"The latest numbers from the Education Ministry show that TEVET instructors qualification percentage rose to 48 per cent following extensive efforts.!
TEVET reform is striving to achieve an efficient, competent and demand-oriented middle-level qualified and semi-skilled labour force.
The Goverment is looking into other options such as hiring Filipino and Germans professionals to make up for the lack of qualified instructors.
City health bureau questions Betezatha medic who examined Tilahun


Taskforce makes surprise visits to hospitals and clinics


By Elias Meseret


The Addis Ababa Health Bureau has told Capital that it has questioned the doctor at Betezatha Higher Clinic who examined the late Tilahun Gesesse.
It says this only happened after several days of failed efforts to reach the medic.
Had it not been for the doctor's absence, the city's health bureau would have concluded its investigations at the beginning of last week.
Wolde Rufael Dirar, head of health institutions inspection and quality control in the Addis Ababa Health Bureau (AAHB), said the issue is now ready for investigation and will finally be sent to the minister of health.
"Our inspection so far has revealed that Tilahun was dead on arrival at Senay Hospital. But we still want to know what the circumstances were. Our main investigation is now into Betezatha Hospital," he added.
Tilahun's case is under investigation by experts from the city's health bureau and the Ministry of Health (MoH) after allegations surfaced that the medical treatment he received on the night of his death was sub-standard.
The investigation was ordered by the minister of health, Tewodros Adhanom (PhD). The report is expected to be finalised in the coming few days and submitted to the minister.
Tilahun Gesesse died on April 19, 2009 in Addis Ababa as he was being taken to hospital by his wife. He had just returned to Ethiopia from the United States where he had been in poor health for several years due to diabetes.
His family claims the legendary singer was not provided with the necessary medical treatment at the hospitals he went to. They said there was no oxygen in Betezatha Hospital, the nearest health centre to his home. In addition to this, the medical staff on duty at Betzatha Hospital could not provide Tilahun with any medical treatment, his family added.
However, Bethezatha Higher Clinic argues all the necessary effort was made to deal with the urgent situation at the time. "There was an oxygen cylinder available at the time. The problem was that it was not possible to bring it to Tilahun's car as it was big," representatives of the hospital have said. Some also question the unavailability of ambulance at the time.
In a related development, the city's health bureau is conducting surprise visits to the city's public and private hospitals and clinics to examine their operational capacity during night and holiday times.
According to the information Capital obtained, the taskforce started the visits last Monday. The group of four will conduct the visits and report back to the city's inspection and controlling unit led by Wolde Rufael.
It is said to be part of the ongoing effort the city's health bureau is conducting to control illegal and unethical conduct by some hospitals and clinics.