Samara, June 27, 2023 – The United States Agency for International Development in Ethiopia (USAID/Ethiopia), through its Health Workforce Improvement Program (HWIP), donated more than US$84,000 (4.5 million Birr) worth of medical equipment to help restore basic health services in health facilities in Afar Region that were affected by the northern Ethiopia conflict. During an event at the Regional Health Bureau compound in Samara, USAID/Ethiopia Acting Deputy Mission Director Thomas Staal handed over the equipment to Mr. Yassin Habib, Head of the Afar Regional Health Bureau.
Acting Deputy Director Staal also visited Dubti Hospital, which was impacted by the conflict, to see USAID’s post-conflict support to revive its essential health services. The USAID Health Workforce Improvement Program worked with Dubti Hospital and other health centers in the region to build their capacity to plan, recruit, and manage their respective health workforce.
The items donated include 16 maternal delivery couches, 32 sets of delivery kits, digital weight scales for newborns and adults, refrigerators for storage of medicines, power generators, 18 binocular LED microscopes, and desktop computers. In addition to this week’s donation, the USAID Health Workforce Improvement Program has worked closely with Samara University to improve the quality of pre-service education for health professionals and strengthen systems and practices for in-service training and continued professional development to enhance the quality of health care for people across the Afar Region.
In 2022 alone, USAID provided more than US$1.8 billion dollars in development and humanitarian aid to Ethiopia. To learn more about the U.S.-Ethiopia partnership visit: U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia and follow U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa | Facebook and Twitter.
###
