Health Poverty Action : Health Poverty Action's programmes in Ethiopia

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Main Content: Health Poverty Action's programmes in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has one of the lowest health expenditures in the world, at just $21 per person. The vast majority of people live in rural areas, where accessing healthcare is extremely difficult. For example:

Only 1% of childbirths among the poorest fifth of the population are attended by skilled health workers
Just 15% of women aged 15-49 (or their partners) use contraception
Women have an average of six children each
Four out of five people live on less than $2 per day

The poorest groups include nomadic pastoralists who live in remote areas with poorly developed infrastructure. They comprise around 10% of the population, and are made more vulnerable by the lack of health services which are appropriate to their nomadic lifestyle.

Health Poverty Action is working with these nomadic communities to:

Save mothers’ lives
In the Bale Lowlands we are improving maternity services and access to sexual and reproductive health information for nomadic pastoralists.

Improve basic health services
In South Omo, we are setting up health outreach clinics and services in remote pastoralist communities.

Prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS
In South Omo we are empowering pastoralists to prevent the spread of HIV.

Urgent update on acute diarrhoea outbreak

An outbreak of Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) is affecting thousands of people in Ethiopia.

HIV/AIDS care and prevention in Ethiopia

Cultural ceremonies that encourage young girls to have numerous sexual relationships before marriage are traditional for some remote pastoralist communities in Ethiopia, but they increase the rates of HIV infection among a community that knows little about the disease.

Saving mothers' lives in the Bale Lowlands, Ethiopia

Pastoralist women living in remote communities are now using life-saving sexual and reproductive health services as a result of this project in the Bale Lowlands area of Ethiopia.

The project trains key health workers, provides family planning options at local health facilities and provides health education to communities.

Improving health services for South Omo semi-nomadic pastoralists

Health is poor and death rates high among the semi-nomadic people of Ethiopia’s South Omo region, because of poor understanding of health issues, widespread harmful traditional practices and restricted access to modern services.

One under-resourced local hospital is serving 390,000 people – as many people as live in the whole of Bristol.

Page Last Modified: 28/04/2010