ETHIOPIA— The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has donated medical equipment worth $100,000 to Jimma University Specialized Hospital to improve the hospital’s access to medical oxygen.
USAID has also donated liquid medical oxygen tanks, vaporizers, and accessories to two hospitals in Addis Ababa and Amhara region to support the MOH’s vision to improve access to medical oxygen at health facilities throughout the country.
Through its Reaching Impact, Saturation, and Epidemic Control (RISE) activity, the U.S. federal agency donated to oxygen compressor worth $100,000 to the Jimma University Specialized Hospital.
USAID noted that the life-saving machine would provide oxygen for patients whose lungs cannot provide enough on their own through breathing.
USAID-Ethiopia Deputy Mission Director Eleanor TanPiengco handed over the equipment to Jimma University President Dr. Jemal Aba Fita in the presence of Minister of Health and Board Chairperson of Jimma University Dr. Lia Tadesse, and Jimma zone health department head.
Deputy Director TanPiengco, Dr. Jemal, and Dr. Lia also visited the Jimma University oxygen center to observe the newly installed machine in action.
This donation increases the oxygen production capacity of the Jimma university hospital by 400%.
Currently, Jimma Hospital is the only teaching and referral hospital in the southwestern part of the country.
Moreso, it provides services for approximately 15,000 inpatients, 160,000 outpatient attendants, 11,000 emergency cases, and 4500 deliveries in a year coming to the hospital from the catchment population of about 15 million people.
The RISE project also collaborated with Jimma Specialized Hospital to train staff to install and use the machine and to create networks among nearby hospitals and health facilities to secure a reliable supply of medical oxygen to save the lives of patients in need.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH), the project has so far donated 250 mechanical ventilators for COVID-19 care to 95 health facilities, including five to Jimma University Specialized Hospital, and staff were trained to use the ventilators.
USAID/Ethiopia has also donated liquid medical oxygen tanks, vaporizers, and accessories to two hospitals in Addis Ababa and Amhara region to support the MOH’s vision to improve access to medical oxygen at the health facilities throughout the country.
In 2022 alone, USAID provided more than US$1.8 billion dollars in development and humanitarian aid to Ethiopia.
USAID interventions in Ethiopia’s health system
USAID reports that it has and continues to work closely with the Government of Ethiopia to address challenges in the country’s public health system.
Additionally, the organization commits to sustainably improving both the quality of and access to essential health services to ensure that Ethiopia is better able to plan, implement and finance its own health programming.
USAID has recently focused on building the capacity of healthcare professionals and extension workers to equip them with the skills needed to better serve their communities and has supported training for 50,000 health managers and providers over the past several years.
USAID also promotes digital health information systems to improve the accuracy of information and to support the availability of pharmaceuticals, medicines, and good quality health products for patients.
For instance, the USAID Health Financing Improvement Program continues to expand coverage of affordable community-based health insurance to millions of citizens across the country.
So far, more than 20 million people have benefited from the program, which significantly reduces out-of-pocket expenses from medical bills and emergency care.
Additionally, the USAID Global Health Supply Chain–Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC PSM) activity supports the Ministry of Health, Ethiopian Pharmaceuticals Supply Agency, and Regional Health Bureaus to strengthen the public health supply chain system and ensure equitable access to affordable medicines and medical equipment and supplies in Ethiopia.
Another prolific endeavor is the USAID Promote Quality of Medicine (PQM+) activity works with the Ethiopian Food and Drug Administration and Regional Health Bureaus to enhance health regulatory systems and capacity to strengthen quality assurance of medical products in Ethiopia in a sustainable way.
The U.S. Government is the largest donor in the Ethiopian health sector, where over the past 20 years, the United States’ long-term investments amount to more than US$13 billion in overall assistance, with nearly US$4 billion in health alone.
Subsequently, this has contributed to significant reductions in maternal and child mortality, which have declined by 50 percent and 66 percent respectively since 1990, as well as declines in diseases like malaria, TB, and HIV/AIDS.
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