Mebrahtu Abraha, MD, MPH

Dr Mebrahtu Abraha is a Public Health Physician currently working for Management Sciences for Health as the Tigray Regional Technical Manager for the Ethiopia Network for HIV/AIDS Treatment, Care and Support (ENHAT-CS) program. Dr. Mebrhatu Abraha has more than nine years of work experience, starting his carrier as a lecturer at the Makelle University College of Health Sciences, after which he joined MSH Ethiopia in 2008. At MSH, he had held different positions, including a clinical mentor visiting health centers, then as Pediatrics/PMTCT Advisor, Technical Advisor for ART/TB HIV/HCT/NTDs, and since March 2012, his current position as Regional Technical Manager.

Dr. Abraha has led the implementation of innovative approaches for low resource setting in such areas as clinical mentorship, provision of antiretroviral therapy, prevention of mother-to-child transmission and HIV exposed infant care. He played a leading role in the establishment of an operations research partnership between the Tigray Regional Health Bureau and Makelle University.

Dr. Abraha’s abstracts have been accepted for presentation at international conferences, including three in 2013: the STI & AIDS World Congress and the annual conferences of the International AIDS Society and the American Public Health Association. In 2014, he was won an MSH Innovation Challenge Fund award to carry out a study of gestational diabetes amongst poor Ethiopian women attending government health centers. The study involved the screening, diagnosis and treatment of gestational diabetes at a poor resource health facility setting. The study successfully enrolled 1,417 pregnant women into the program, finding of 11.3% Incidence rate and an article on the study is being prepared for publication. For his pioneering work in addressing gestational diabetes in a resource poor setting of Ethiopia, he was nominated by MSH for the APHA 2014 Young Professional Award.