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Ethiopia

UNHCR Ethiopia: Health Factsheet (September 2018)

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  • In 2018, more than 620,000 consultations were provided in primary health care centres while more than 27,000 refugees were counselled and tested for HIV

  • More than 2,900 patients were referred to secondary level health facilities for further diagnostics and treatment

  • More than 10,700 mothers delivered with the help of a skilled birth attendant

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Forty-four primary health care centers and health posts provide services free of charge for refugees and host communities in all 26 refugee camps where health programmes are implemented jointly with the Government of Ethiopia’s Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) and NGO partners. Close linkages have been established with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and UN partners to enable refugees to benefit from national health programmes.

  • From January to September 2018, a total of 620,509 consultations were provided in all health centers, 9% of whom were for members of the host communities. 38% of the consultations were for children under the age of five.

  • The most common health problems seen are upper respiratory tract infections, diarrhea, lower respiratory tract infections and malaria. The health facility utilization rate to date is 1.1 consultation per refugee per year which is within the standard of 1-4 consultations. The mortality rate in children under five is 0.1/1,000/month and remains less than the emergency threshold of 3/1,000/month.

  • UNHCR has commenced the roll-out of the mobile tablet based Health Information System (HIS) in an effort to improve the ease, efficiency and accuracy of health data collection. A UNHCR team provided training and 300 tablets to ARRA and other health partners in field locations. ARRA pharmacy staff at the central medical warehouse in Addis Ababa received training on HCMIS (Health Commodity Management Information System). UNHCR advocated for inclusion of refugees in the planned national roll-out of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination for adolescent girls to prevent HPV infections and cancer of the cervix.

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