Vision and Mission – Our Vision for Ethiopia

Our Vision is:

To improve the health outcomes of children and pregnant women across Ethiopia through increased access to pediatric and maternal/fetal health services and research programs.

Our Mission is:

To facilitate building a state of the art comprehensive Children’s Hospital aimed at providing high level medical, surgical, and research services and facilities to children and pregnant mothers in Ethiopia. This hospital would:
- Facilitate and conduct research activities aimed at improving the health and quality of living for all Ethiopian children and pregnant women.
- Embrace digital technology to help provide up to date care to children and pregnant women in Ethiopia.
- Provide voluntary counseling and testing services to children pregnant women across Ethiopia and in neighboring countries.
- Engage the community in the development, design and ongoing support of the hospital, to help facilitate the sustainability of the hospital and its programs.
- Work in close relationship with the national public health services and Office of the Ministry of Health Ethiopia to ensure best outcomes for our community.

Our Goal:

To raise fund to support phase 1 of this project, including design, permitting and coordination of the plans to build the first Children’s Hospital of Ethiopia.

Our target beneficiaries are:

The beneficiaries of the project will be pregnant women and children (ages 0-18 years) living in Ethiopia, with a priority focus on economically disadvantaged communities.

Our Vision for Ethiopia’s mission is to build a Children’s Hospital in Ethiopia that will contribute to the foundation of pediatric care, improving the health and development of all children and pregnant mothers. This facility would provide accessible and affordable state of the art healthcare services, with the capacity to train pediatric health care providers from around the country. By improving access to basic pediatric health services for Ethiopian youth and their families we hope to improve the overall care and survival rates of children inflicted by common, preventable and treatable illness and injuries such as infectious diseases, respiratory illnesses, malnutrition, trauma, and more.

With a population of over 110 million and growing, Ethiopia’s future potential lies in the youth. According to UNICEF¹, 50% of the Ethiopian population is under the age of 18 years old, and the majority of those are under the age of 14 years old (43% of the total population)². Unfortunately, each year over 100,000 mothers and newborns die from complications related to childbirth³, with rates of early childhood (0-5 years) and maternal mortality in Ethiopia amongst the highest in the world (estimated at 55 childhood deaths per 1000 live births⁴ and 412 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births)⁵.

Providing high quality state of the art tertiary level care facilities that address complex medical and surgical problems for Ethiopian children is of urgent and strategic importance for the future of the country. OVFEthiopia believes that building a free-standing Children’s Hospital could help advance the health of all children in Ethiopia in a sustainable* way. We believe that the morbidity and mortality from trauma and injury would be dramatically decreased in Ethiopia by the presence of a Children’s Hospital. From the improved success of the procedures to the decreased rates of super-infections, studies show that procedures at children’s hospitals are generally safer and have fewer complications and lower mortality rates than those done on kids in adult hospital settings^6,7,8.

The institute of medicine research indicated that medication errors are the most common cause of harm in the pediatric population where medication administrated within adult settings that manage pediatric patients. According to the studies, 1 in 10 hospitalized children’s in adult settings had some kind of medication error and noted that as high as 35% of the case were serious or life threat⁹.

In addition to providing hospital based services, the Children’s Hospital that Our Vision for Ethiopia builds will work closely with the public health ministry to focus on supporting primary care and public health care through a variety of programs. With the acknowledgement that health of an individual, family and the community at large are dependent on various cultural, social, environmental, political and economical factors, local community involvement will be an integral part of the health education model for primary care. These programs would improve the overall health of the local community by promoting prevention and control of common local primary and public health issues. Health education could be provided by a variety of methods including mass media, educational workshops, the continuous development and dissemination of health education materials, and through ongoing dialogue with the community. Potential programs include:

NUTRITION: Promotion of proper nutrition is essential for the promotion and maintenance of physical and mental health. A good nutritional state will optimize the health potential for children and allow them to eventually contribute both socially and economically to their communities. This program will launch activities which promote and support household food security, by first evaluating the availability of adequate food among vulnerable groups (children, pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers). Programs will encourage best practices for age and developmentally appropriate infant and child nutrition, including breastfeeding and balanced diets. Education around prevention and early detection of poor nutritional health and nutritional diseases will also be promoted.
IMMUNIZATIONS: Provision of immunizations against vaccine preventable diseases with the goal of protecting our children against measles, whooping cough, polio, tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus and more. This program would solicit community support for an educational model to promote maternal and general community awareness around the importance of childhood immunizations.
ENDEMIC DISEASES: Communicable diseases are the most common diseases in Ethiopia, thus, major efforts must be directed towards prevention and adequate treatment of these diseases. Special programs will be formulated to address diseases as malaria, diarrhea, TB, and HIV/AIDS. This will reduce mortality and disability caused by these diseases.
SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL HEALTH: Part of the wider socio-cultural programs would include public education on pediatric social and emotional development. Promoting the idea that childhood should incorporate learning, play and feeling loved. Currently child labor (to supplement family income) and abuse (emotional, sexual and physical), negatively impact the overall health and future of some Ethiopian youth. Programs would educate expectant parents on the importance of social and emotional health and development and promotion of education of our youth of all ages.

Ethiopia, a country with well known ancient heritage and strong cultural traditions, is one of the fastest growing countries in Africa with rapid modern day progress. With half of the population under the age of 18 years old, the youth are the future of Ethiopia. OVFEthiopia wants to support the health and well being of the future of Ethiopia by building and supporting the first ever free-standing Children’s Hospital in Ethiopia. To find out how you can help OVFEthiopia improve the health outcomes of children across Ethiopia, click here.

References:

UNICEF Ethiopia-home page | UNICEF Ethiopia. (n.d.). Retrieved February 12, 2019, from https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ethiopia_statistics.html
The World Factbook: Ethiopia. (2018, February 01). Retrieved February 10, 2019, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html
A. N., & G. G. (2017). Is the role of Health Extension Workers in the delivery of maternal and child health care services a significant attribute? The case of Dale district, southern Ethiopia.17(641). doi:10.1186/s12913-017-2590-8
Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) [Ethiopia] and ICF. 2019. Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey 2019: Key Indicators. Rockville, Maryland, USA: EPHI and ICF.
Maternal and Newborn Health Disparities in Ethiopia | UNICEF Country Profile (Ethiopia)
Alvarez, F., Ismail, L., & Markowsky, A. (2016, December 01). Pediatric Medication Safety in Adult Community Hospital Settings: A Glimpse Into Nationwide Practice. Retrieved February 12, 2019, from http://hosppeds.aappublications.org/content/6/12/744
HCD Mag. (2008, July 7). Retrieved February 14, 2019, from https://www.healthcaredesignmagazine.com/architecture/evidence-pediatric-settings-can-heal/
Lacey, S. (n.d.). Pediatric Safety and Quality. Retrieved February 14, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2662/?report=printable

Francisco Alvarez, Lana Ismail and Allison Markowsky Hospital Pediatrics December 2016, 6 (12) 744-749; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/hpeds.2016-0068