Ethiopia News

29 MARCH 2015 | ADDIS ABABA - The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to intensify collaboration on sustainable management of health programmes and projects in Africa. The agreement is the first of its kind between WHO and UNOPS in the African region.

ADDIS ABABA - The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) today thanked the government of Japan for its generous and timely donation of US$11.8 million to assist South Sudanese refugees and the host community in Gambella regional state in western Ethiopia.

The three UN agencies acknowledged the Japanese Ambassador in Ethiopia, His Excellency Mr. Kazuhiro Suzuki, for the crucial contribution to deliver life-saving assistance and services to refugees and the host community.

Ethiopia launches national strategic action plan on non-communicable diseases and the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon partnership

WHO Urges Affected Countries to Invest More to Tackle Neglected Tropical Diseases

WHO and partners conduct Ebola assessments in 14 high risk countries in Africa

The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners conducted Ebola Virus Disease preparedness assessments in 14 countries in the African region in 2014. The assessment team visited Ethiopia 2-8 December 2014 to explore what systems were in place and what areas of preparedness could be strengthened.

19 FEBRUARY 2015. GENEVA/LONDON/ADDIS ABABA – TheWorld Health Organization (WHO) urges affected countries to scale up their investment in tackling 17 neglected tropical diseases in order to improve the health and well-being of more than 1.5 billion people. This investment would represent as little as 0.1% of current domestic expenditure on health in affected low and middle income countries for the period 2015-2030.

Jigjiga/Wardher, 9 February 2015 - A pledge of commitment for a polio-free Ethiopia was made on 8 February 2015 in Jigjiga and Warher at the launch of the polio national immunization days (NIDs) in Somali Regional State. Ethiopia has been polio free since 5 January 2014, but the risk of polio cases in Horn of Africa prevails. The campaign running until 11 February 2015 aims to reach over one million children under the age of five in the region.

The evolving Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak highlights the risk of cases being imported into unaffected countries. WHO’s preparedness activities aim to ensure that all countries are ready to effectively and safely detect, investigate and report potential EVD cases, and to mount an effective response. Ethiopia is among the high priority countries for WHO and partners’ support due to the volume of travellers arriving to and transiting in Addis Ababa every day. 

The African Union First Ladies made a call for action on 31 January 2015 for continent-wide efforts, leadership and political commitment to kick polio out of Africa. The First Ladies agreed to advocate for a polio-free Africa as a top priority for their governments in 2015 at an event jointly organized by the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (WHO, Rotary, CDC and UNICEF) at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa.

Every day, approximately 35 women die in Ethiopia from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Although maternal deaths have declined by 70% in Ethiopia between 1990 and 2013, maternal mortality remains unacceptably high and more efforts are needed to meet the Millennium Development Goal 5 target of 267 per 100,000 live births. Access to antenatal care in pregnancy, skilled care during childbirth, and care and support in the weeks after childbirth are what makes the difference between life and death.