End of year gains on cataracts, digital health and hospital sanitation

This 18-year-old boy was one of hundreds whose eyesight was restored by cataract surgery in 2019.

Sure, it’s 2020, but we have a few more end-of-the-year successes we’d like to share, all of them related to improved healthcare delivery in Ethiopia. Among them: 

·      Imagine running a hospital without a laundry machine. Day after day, large piles of soiled linens, surgical towels and hospital gowns need to be washed by hand. Last fall WEEMA installed a new washing machine at the Mudula Primary Hospital, the only hospital in Tembaro. It’s been enormously appreciated, saving staff time and ensuring clean and safe linens for patients and hospital workers.  

·      Based on feedback from a dozen government officials, hospital representatives and other groups at a year-end evaluation meeting, our 2019 Cataract Campaign in Hosanna was a smashing success and plans for a 2020 campaign in February, again in Hosanna, are already well underway. The cataract campaigns are organized every year with the Himalayan Cataract Project. Last year’s five-day campaign restored eyesight for more than 900 Ethiopians. Cataracts are the leading cause of preventable blindness in the country, affecting an estimated 2.4 percent of rural populations.

·      We successfully trained more than 100 local health extension workers (HEWs), midwives and primary health unit directors in Kembata-Tembaro on a digital healthcare tool that has shown enormous promise in improving healthcare delivery services for children and mothers in rural areas. Training sessions were held in Mudula, Hadero and Durame.

 We’ll surely have many more successes to report in 2020!