Ethiopia is a country of over 90 million citizens. It has various technical problems when dealing with its policy and strategy formulation. One of the principal concerns is about the health care system. The government has had various shortcomings in the health ministry due to the shortage of funds. But various international organs have helped to bridge the gap by providing funds towards the development of health. The paper would discuss the challenges, opportunities and funding of the health care section.
Lending Institutions
The funds from World Bank, International Monetary Funds, and other agencies of financing have been very helpful to Ethiopia. The civil war of the early 1990s caused a lot of corruption. But after the government took charge of the affairs of the health in the late 1990s, it made several commitment goals (Milkias, 2011). It has streamlined the healthcare sector and brought order in the way the health institutions administer health. The elderly and disadvantaged can visit public hospitals like the Addis Zemen Health Center and get free healthcare. The towns and cities have full-time physicians and medical supplies. But over two-thirds of Ethiopians live in the rural areas. They are the ones who need these services more.
Foreign aid has been conditional. The funding agencies had to agree with the government about the usage of the money so that it does not go into other projects. It has been the reason many health institutions have gotten a facelift (Mooney, 2012). The rural citizens are yet to see the change. Most of them have had to rely on the traditional herbalists for their medication.
The health sector came up with the Health Sector Development Plan (Taylor, 2012). The HSDP has led to improvements in the government’s effort to provide better health care. The government, through funding agencies, has made HSDP to constitute the health chapter of the national poverty reduction strategy. One of the main aims is to increase immunization coverage and decrease under-five mortality rate. Due to these efforts, the health service can boast of being able to serve more than two-thirds of the people of Ethiopia. The Federal Ministry of Health aim has been able to achieve a minimum of its target through Health Extension Program.
Human Capital
Funding helps to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich (Berhanu, 2012). The government uses the funds to implement the new waiver scheme. The project targets the unprivileged population, protects the poor and promotes equity within the health sector. The elderly can now access free medical care through the waiver system. Government hospitals can offer medical services to the less fortunate of the society like the orphan, the poor, and others (Milkias, 2011).
Since the government has the elaborate year 2020 plan, the funds would directly get into the health projects of health immediately. The funds help to buy more health facilities like the cancer machines, build and equip new facilities with the hospitals, and promote sanity (Taylor, 2012). They have also helped to provide specialized medication to lifestyle diseases like diabetes, cancer, and many other sicknesses. Due to the major expansions in healthcare, the funds have contributed to the hire of more doctors, nurses and staffs to provide human capital to the healthcare industry.
The limited number of health institutions is still a major problem in the country. The few available health centers have the inefficient distribution of medical supplies. The rural people are the most affected. Severe under-funding of the health sector had decreased access to health-care services (Organization, 2011). The communist regime had caused many doctors and nurses to seek job opportunities outside the country. Over the last decade, there have been some changes. The current leadership has tried to emphasize the need for better health care and better pay for the health workers.
Healthy and Economy
A healthy population strengthens the economy of a country. Ethiopia, like other countries, ha to charge tax on the population’s expenditure. A healthy nation would work hard to produce for the country and the family (Johnson & Musch, 2013). It could be food production, manufacturing, processing, and service. When people work, they increase the chances for a nation to become self-reliant. Healthy people would invest in education. By so doing they expand knowledge and at the same time contribute to the growth of the education sector. Healthy people would also save and invest in their country. For instance, Ethiopia would grow from local investments by the citizens. The financial institutions would expand when people have money and or borrow money to invest in them. Healthy people would cause the government to concentrate its budget on the developmental projects (Milkias, 2011). It would allow the government to deal primarily with the new diseases and preventive measures. The health department may start investing in more scientific and research methods and could become the referral center for the region.
Foreign Aid
Ethiopia has a large land mass. Its health centers are spread all over the country but are not close to millions of citizens (Berhanu, 2012). Ethiopia has used its foreign aid to provide mobile clinics to the rural populations. The medical department organizes for such visits on the monthly basis. The country is one of the poorest in Africa. The primary health concerns include maternal mortality, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Access to clean water, malnutrition and sanitation are also major concerns. The government has used donor funds to dig up boreholes and provide citizens with clean water (Organization, 2011). It has also embarked on the distribution of free mosquito nets to pregnant mothers who visit the health centers. But the funds are not enough to cater for the vast nation with the kind of population it has.
The government has a new program that empowers women. The majority of the women would live in the rural areas close to their families. The government now gets some of these women and trains them for health jobs (Johnson & Musch, 2013). The female health extension workers go through a year’s medical training. They concentrate their work on the prevention of diseases. They also test the HIV/AIDS and treat common diseases like malaria. The Health Extension Program also delivers cost efficient services. It provides care for children, women and even men. A free telephone advice service is also available for the caregivers (Mooney, 2012).
Conclusion
Ethiopia’s work on the health matters has shown that the third world countries can manage the health condition of their people. What Ethiopia needs is to establish better mechanisms on how to develop healthy facilities in the rural areas. The government needs to engage with the people and ensure that there is proper utilization of funds.
References
Berhanu Feysia, (2012). The health workforce in Ethiopia. Washington, D.C: World Bank.
Johnson, J., & Musch, S. (2013). Multisector casebook in health administration, leadership, and management. Clifton Park, New York: Delmar, Cengage Learning.
Milkias, P. (2011). Ethiopia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO.
Mooney, G. (2012). The Health of Nations. London, UK: Zed Books.
Organization, W. (2011). Health in the Green Economy. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
Taylor, N. (2012). Health education in context. Rotterdam, Netherlands: SensePublishers.