Medical Sector:

Medical Sector:

In Progress

By Samuel Tekleyesus MBA in Finance Lecturer, Researcher and Business Consultant

Ethiopia is characterized by a predominantly rural and impoverished population with limited access to safe water, housing, sanitation, food and health care. Health, as part of the environment and social services, has recorded success marked by the increased estimated healthy life expectancy at birth to 64.8 years in 2016 from as low as 45 years in 1990. The health status of the country’s population indicates that about 80% of diseases are attributable to preventable conditions.

According the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, a Non-Communicable Diseases related annual death rate of 34% in Ethiopia However, Ethiopia is displaying decreasing trend of these conditions through the effective performance of health extension programs.

FDRE Ministry of Health reports indicate that Ethiopia has been implementing successive Health Sector Development Plans (HSDPs). Ethiopia’s health indicators have been remarkably improved. The quality of health care in terms of improving patient safety, effectiveness, and patient-centeredness, in both public and private facilities, is often inconsistent and unreliable.

The Health Sector Transformation Plan (HSTP) is the national health sector strategic plan, which covers 2015 –2020. The Plan has three key features: quality and equity; universal health coverage and transformation. The HSTP sets out four pillars of excellence:

1. Excellence in health service delivery 2. Excellence in quality improvement and assurance 3. Excellence in leadership and governance 4. Excellence in health system capacity

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The impact-level targets of HSTP by 2020 are to reduce:

• Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to 199/100,000 live births (LB) • Under five-year, infant and neonatal mortality rates 30, 20 and 10 per 1,000 live births respectively; • HIV incidence by at least 60% compared with 2010 and achieve zero new infections among children; • The number of TB deaths and incidence rate by 35% and 20% respectively. • Diminish malaria case incidence and mortality rate by at least 40 percent.

Currently, more than 12,000 private health facilities are providing health services in Ethiopia. The government is playing a facilitation role and supports private sectors in the area of quality of care and quality services. The government is also working with private sectors in order to build advanced tertiary care hospitals to attract medical tourism. The Ministry of Health is committed to reform agencies such as the Pharmaceuticals Fund and Supply Agency (PFSA) for providing consistent and reliable services to the healthcare system. The MOH is also working to establish

the Sustainable Development Goals of the country.

cancer diagnosis centers at seven hospitals and to strength the services at 48 health facilities.

The healthcare environment in Ethiopia, while striving to meet the needs of its citizens, is lacking in adequate professional medical providers and services. According to Ethiopian HSTP report, the country is still facing a triple burden of diseases consisting of communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases and injuries. A growing number of Ethiopians travel overseas each year for treatment to the Middle East, Europe, South East Asia and South Africa. It is not just treatment; many just want to travel for a medical checkup as they are not happy with the quality of the local health services and prefer to get checked abroad.

The number of foreign hospital representatives in Addis Ababa is increasing significantly to address a growing demand of medical travel in the country. There are representative offices of Indian, Turkish, Saudi Arabian and South African hospitals in Addis Ababa. The average cost of each trip is estimated to be $ 20,000.Ethiopians spent over 30 million dollars in medical treatment expenditure abroad, in 2012, according to estimates by the Ministry of Health. Exactly how many Ethiopians travel for health reasons is not known, but local estimates put it at over 20,000 per year.

In Conclusion, Ethiopia is working to strengthen the healthcare system to align it with

The country has a large, predominantly rural, and impoverished population with poor access to safe water, housing, sanitation, food and health service. Under the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II), the Ministry of Health is planning to upgrade different aspects of the healthcare through PPP.

With an increasing middle class, the government is facing an increase in non-infectious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart diseases, and high blood pressure which need to be addressed. A growing number of Ethiopians travel overseas each year for treatment to the Middle East, Europe, South East Asia and South Africa.