World Vision Ethiopia and the World Health Organisation Donated Medical Supplies
Together with the World Health Organization (WHO), World Vision donated medical supplies to the South Omo Zone Health Bureau in the South Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Regional States worth US$18,900, which will benefit 80,000 people. The medical supplies are meant to support health services for communities in Hammer, Dasenech, and Malle districts that are suffering from the prevalence of malaria and cholera outbreaks. The two districts are located in southern Ethiopia, where World Vision Ethiopia (WVE) has been carrying out development programmes as well as responding to emergencies.
It has been four months since World Vision began its support in tackling the outbreak by providing medical equipment and drugs for health centres and health posts through the fund secured from USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). The intervention has benefitted 150,000 target programme participants so far. WVE has also been offering training to health professionals, supervisors within health services, and community representatives on child health and child protection.
One of the health institutions that World Vision has supported is Dimeka Health Centre. For this health centre, WVE provided skill-upgrading training on medical equipment usage and how to handle severe malnutrition cases. Twenty-two health workers and 134 health extension workers participated in the training. Twenty-five community leaders and community representatives attended another training on Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMNCI).
Moreover, thirty-four health workers and community leaders took training on clinical case management, COVID-19 outbreak prevention, and public health emergency management (PHEM). “The medical support is significant as it has enabled the health centres and the health posts to treat malaria cases. The multifaceted training was also of paramount importance,’’ says Mr. Orano Gebino, a Dimeka Health Centre officer.
Lito Obo, 25, is a mother of two whose one-year-old child was diagnosed with malaria. She says,” Getting the medication for free means a lot, and I am sure my child will be cured soon. My worry is gone, and I am happy with the support,’’ she says.
According to Mr. Tamirat Assefa, the head of the South Omo Zone Health Bureau, the health posts in the districts were not able to provide effective and efficient health services to the communities because of a shortage of medicines. The Bureau Head remembers when a certain patient had to travel a minimum of 72 kilometres (60 miles) to get to a health centre for treatment and suffered a lot. ‘‘That was a gruesome story, which many members of our community had been through, and World Vision’s support can help us solve the long-standing shortcomings,’’ says Tamirat. “We thank World Vision for standing with us during such difficult times,’’ he adds.
In the aforementioned districts, health problems were wide-ranging issues that the district health office could not address for many years. Children and pregnant women who could not afford to travel long distances were more liable for the problems in such cases than male patients. Lack of finance limited the health offices’ ability to deliver regular services. The support has changed, but the need has kept arising. ‘‘We are blessed to receive the donation. However, there are still more needs as the larger population in the districts seeks support. Lactating mothers are easily exposed to various types of diseases, and more support is needed to tackle the service shortage”, concludes Tamirat.
By Hilina Hailu, Communications Coordinator, World Vision Ethiopia