When VHP began implementing programs in rural Ethiopia, one-in-ten women were still dying in childbirth, and without medical assistance at the time of delivery, many more were left with severe gynecologic injury. We decided to focus on women due to their healthcare needs. We believed that focusing on women would lift up whole communities. VHP works at the grassroots level with local stakeholders to build health systems of care by implementing programs that break down barriers to seeking, reaching, and receiving medical care. VHP now supports three major programs, including our Screen Transport and Treat (STT) program, the Skill Building for Rural Health Care Providers (SBRHP) program, and our WASH and Maternal Health Initiative (WASH MHI). Our ultimate goal is to create a health system of care within rural Ethiopia that works to provide maternal health access.
Working with the Western Wollega Bethel Synod Development and Social Services committee and Aira Hospital - we initiated our efforts for safer motherhood with our STT program for women with gynecologic complications of childbirth. Currently, we are treating 150 women with severe pelvic organ prolapse and 25 women with obstetric fistula per year. Since 2016, we have been working to train and educate medical providers in rural health facilities in southwestern Ethiopia. Early needs assessments revealed that nurses, nurse midwives, and health officers felt ill-equipped to deliver babies. Working with the Mizan Tepi University and Teaching Hospital, we implemented three programs to address this problem. Through VHP’s SBRHP program, we have trained 340 students in neonatal resuscitation, using the Helping Babies Breathe curriculum. Partnering with the Ethiopian Nurse-Midwifery Association, we have trained 120 nurse-midwives using the Basic Emergency Maternal Obstetric and Neonatal Care curriculum. We have provided 17 women scholarships to become nurse-midwives. In 2016, we performed a needs assessment of 14 hospitals and health centers. What we found was shocking. Women in labor slept under trees in cold rain with little to eat. Health facilities had sinks with broken tabs filled with dirty needles, bloody gauze, and rat feces. The stick and mud pit latrines often overflowed in the rainy season. Health facilities were actually deadly places to deliver.
We implemented a pilot project in five medical facilities in southwestern Ethiopia. Under the WASH and MHI project, the Ethiopian government began cleaning health facilities - building incinerators and placenta pits and fencing biohazard areas. VHP, in partnership with Afro Ethiopia Integrated Development, constructed maternity waiting areas. We implemented water systems providing year-round access to clean water and put handwashing stations in patient care areas. We drilled a well for the Bachuma District Hospital and are implementing a rainwater catchment system for the Chebera Health Center.
Our next steps include expanding the program to involve four more medical facilities. If we are successful, we hope to further expand the project to involve all 39 health facilities in the West Omo Zone and the neighboring Bench Sheko Zone. The catchment area of the regional hospital in Mizan Teferi impacts more than 1.8 million people.
