Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Since the early 2000s, we have worked with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health and local governments to empower leaders, train pharmacy workers, help health facilities select and procure medicines more cost effectively, and design information systems that support evidence-based decision making.

[Ethiopia is making progress in tackling tuberculosis, the leading infectious disease killer along with HIV.] {Photo credit: Warren Zelman}

Finding the Missing Cases of TB in Mining Populations in Ethiopia

Tailored interventions are necessary to access hard-to-reach populations to prevent and treat TB. Since 2011, we have worked in Ethiopia to find missing TB cases by focusing on those at higher risk of contracting the disease, such as mining workers in remote areas. We employ a comprehensive strategy that includes training health workers to identify TB symptoms, procuring a GeneXpert machine to improve diagnosis, using motorbikes to transport samples, and training female community health workers to support health education and social mobilization.

Overview

With support from USAID, we worked with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health to make quality TB services accessible to 55 million people—more than half the country’s population—including the most marginalized groups, such as miners, truck drivers, and sex workers. Our efforts to combat HIV in the country have focused largely on women and children. We’ve implemented programs that integrate HIV services into antenatal care and labor and delivery by training health providers and providing supportive supervision, quality improvement strategies, and mentorship. By building the capacity of health centers to care for children with HIV and to trace those previously missed by the system, our programs more than doubled the number of HIV-positive children receiving treatment. 

We supported the introduction of clinical pharmacy services in Ethiopia, which have become an integral part of hospital services; developed a national strategy to prevent and contain antimicrobial resistance; and introduced systems to support patient-centered pharmacy services. Our work has continued to address critical health workforce challenges, including building competency; bolstering management and regulatory skills; and promoting evidence-based planning and decision making, particularly during emergencies such as COVID-19.

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Strengthening Lab Capacity to Save Lives: How MSH is Helping Ethiopia Eliminate TB 

A key component of the USAID Eliminate TB Project’s approach is working to increase access to early TB diagnosis and treatment for patients. To do so, the project focuses on expanding and improving laboratory services by providing state-of-the-art GeneXpert machines to health facilities throughout the country and training laboratory technicians on their use. 

Under PEPFAR-funded projects, MSH teams have been employing index case testing as one strategy to reach the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets. In index case testing, a person with confirmed HIV infection (an index case) is asked to contact family members (children, spouse, sexual partners, siblings, and parents) to invite them to be tested for HIV. Watch this webinar to learn more through three case studies from Ethiopia, Angola, and Malawi.

Job Opportunities in Ethiopia

Join us as we help solve the world’s public health challenges through innovation, dedication, and technical excellence. We are looking for talented, passionate people to join us—as employees, consultants, and interns—in advancing our mission to save lives and improve the health of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.