USAID set to consolidate urban health care support to Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, May 1, 2017 (FBC) – The efficient Urban Health Extension Program (UHEP) in Ethiopia is encouraging USAID to further consolidate its assistance with a view to creating well-functioning urban health system.
In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald BethAnne Moscow, USAID Ethiopia Chief Health Officer, said USAID is extending supports in terms of creating skilled extension workers and offering central health commodities.

“USAID is working very closely with Ministry of Health (MoH) in this regard for it has a fantastic and easy to implement Health Sector Transformation Plan,” she said.

The UHEP support remains fundamental for the country as there is a boom in urban population which in turn puts pressure on health care systems, she said.

Noting that USAID has been partnering in UHEP since 2009, the chief health officer expressed conviction as their involvement would continue aiming to success the noble goal of creating healthy and productive urban population.

She also took the opportunity to laud Ethiopia’s health extension workers in general for they strongly believe in the program and help the community to build trust in the health centers through providing quality services.

In addition to the training offered to 2,000 Urban Health Extension Workers (UHEW), USAID has worked with MoH in delivering a whole range of comprehensive training programs in areas such as family planning, maternal health, child health, infant care, TB, water and sanitation, BethAnne mentioned.

The trainings created a huge difference in skills and knowledge of the UHEW, and made them confident in offering services.

Moreover, MoH and USAID joint efforts over the past decade helped the country to cut child mortality by two-thirds, according to her.

Besides, she said, their intervention reduced TB and malarial incidence as well as HIV and AIDS. USAID invested about 2.2 billion USD in the health sector over the past decade, she added.