Ethiopia: The country, the people, and their health

One of the oldest independent countries in the world, Ethiopia has remained a poor country due to repeated invasions by different phases of colonialism and cultural influence, with some successfully staved off but others succumbed to. Its own expansionist ambitions and colonial tendencies have brought it to war with her neighbours. A combination of war, poor management of the state, natural calamities, imbalanced international trade etc has left the country with poor indicators of health funding, health system performance, health status and gross inequality in resource distribution. At the end of 2004, only 36.5% of infants were fully immunised by 1 year, attendance of one visit of Ante Natal Care (ANC) services was 40.8%, assisted deliveries were 9.45%, Tetanus Toxoid immunization coverage for pregnant women was 31.9% and out-patient visits were 0.36 per person per year. There was one hospital bed per 5,300 people and yet the average Bed Occupancy Rate was 28.2%. Only 6% of the deliveries were attended by skilled workers and life expectancy at birth was 46 years. With increasing internally generated and externally generated tension, coupled with draconian response by the government, the author warns of a likelihood of worsening of the indicators.