Testing times for Ethiopia’s healthcare system

With COVID-19 raging across the world, the capacities of national heathcare systems are under close scrutiny. Ethiopia is no exception. As the second most populous country in Africa, with over 110 million people, before the crisis, Ethiopia’s public healthcare system was already under considerable strain. The outbreak of the pandemic has thus only aggravated an already tenuous situation.

In this context, the German Government’s commitment of €13 million – via KFW – to strengthen the capacity of Ethiopia’s biomedical sector is extremely timely. NIRAS is supporting this effort by implementing a project, launched already in February of this year, with two key aims: making biomedical technician training more practice oriented and procuring medical equipment for training purposes.

The training and new equipment will benefit three types of institutions, namely, TVET colleges, universities and teaching hospitals. In Addis Ababa, the project will strengthen the capacities of and improve collaboration between Addis Ababa University, Black Lion Hospital and Tegbared-id College. About 350 km southwest of the capital, Jimma University and Jimma University Teaching Hospital are project beneficiaries while in Kombolcha – about 270 km north of Addis Ababa – the project will focus on Kombolcha Polytechnic College.

Considering the current healthcare crisis, “Capacity Development in the Field of Training for Healthcare Specialists and Technicians” is an important intervention that runs until 2024. NIRAS is committed to ensuring its successful implementation and will do our utmost to translate the planned investment into improved healthcare outcomes for the people of Ethiopia.