Timeline of healthcare in Ethiopia

This is a timeline of healthcare in Ethiopia, focusing especially on modern science-based medicine healthcare. Major events such as policies and organizations are described.

Big picture

Year/period	Key developments
Prior to 1896	Local traditional African medicine is present in Ethiopia for most of its history.
1896–onward	Western medicine is consolidated after first hospital is built by Europeans.[1]
1948–onward	The Ministry of Health is established.[1]
Present	Today, the major health problems of Ethiopia remain largely preventable communicable diseases and nutritional disorders. The rate of morbidity and mortality remain high and the health status is relatively poor. Physician brain drain is an actual major issue.[1]

Full timeline

Evolution of life expectancy in Ethiopia for the period 1950–2005.[2]

Year/period	Type of event	Event	Location
1896	Organization	The Russian Red Cross builds the first hospital in Ethiopia.[1]
1939	Report	First case of onchocerciasis in Ethiopia is reported.[3]
1942	Report	First case of visceral leishmaniasis in Ethiopia is identified.[3]
1948	Organization	The Ministry of Health is established.[1]
1954	Organization	University of Gondar College of Medicine and Health Sciences is founded.[4]	Gondar
1956	Campaign	An organized leprosy control program is established in Ethiopia within the Ministry of Health.[3]
1964	Policy	Pharmacy Regulation No.288/1964 is introduced. This legislation forms the legal basis for official establishment of drug regulation in Ethiopia, enabling the regulation of the practice of pharmacists, druggists and pharmacy technicians; manufacturing, distribution, and sale of medicines.[5]
1969	Report	First case of dracunculiasis is reported in Ethiopia.[3]
1983	Campaign	Multiple Drug Therapy (MDT) is massively implemented in Ethiopia, leading to relatively rapid reduction in prevalence of leprosy.[3]
1988–1989	Report	The national schistosomiasis survey reports an overall prevalence of 25% over the total population in Ethiopia.[3]
1989	Organization	Ethiopiaid is established as a registered charity that generates public funding for local charity partners in Ethiopia.[6]
1989	Organization	ActionAid Ethiopia (AAI-E) is founded as a charity organization. It assists in HIV/AIDS and primary health care (PHC), food security and emergency responses, among other interventions.[7]
1993	Campaign	The Ethiopian Ministry of Health establishes the National Dracunculiasis Eradication Program, and launches a village-by-village nationwide search during which 1,120 cases are found in 99 villages in the southwest part of the country.[3]
1994	Campaign	Leprosy is combined with tuberculosis under a joint control program.[3]
1996	Organization	Awassa Health Science College is founded.[8]	Hawassa
1998	Campaign	Community-based lymphoedema management for podoconiosis is started.[3]	Wolayita Zone
1999	Campaign	The first national plan to fight onchocerciasis is developed.[3]
1999	Policy	Drug Administration and Control Proclamation No.176/1999” is introduced as new regulation, repealing most parts of the regulation 288/1964. The new law establishes an independent Drug Administration and Control Authority (DACA) with further mandate of setting standards of competence for licensing institutions/facilities.[5]
1999	Achievement	Ethiopia reaches the leprosy elimination target of 1 case/10,000 population.[3]
2000	Campaign	Ethiopia implements the WHO-approved SAFE strategy for trachoma control: surgeries, antibiotics, face and hand washing and environmental hygiene.[3]
2000	Organization	The National Onchocerciasis Task Force is established by Ethiopia's Ministry of Health. Its mission encompasses mobilizing and educating onchocerciasis-endemic communities; coordinating Mectizan tablet procurement (donated by Merck) and distribution; and coordinating all partners in the program.[3]
2001	Organization	Project Harar is established as a charity organization working in Ethiopia to help children affected by facial disfigurements.[9]
2004	Campaign	The Enhanced Outreach Strategy (EOS) program is launched under the mission of deworming 2– to 5-year-old children every six months. The strategy is implemented in every district in the country except Addis Ababa. By 2009 the program has reached more than 11 million children in 624 districts.[3]
2005–2006	Report	Survey conducted suggests that Ethiopia is the most trachoma-affected country in the world.[3]
2006	Report	The total number of physicians in the public sector in Ethiopia reaches an all-time low of 638.[1]
2006	Campaign	A leishmaniasis control program that includes mandatory notification is established.[3]
2006	Campaign	Ethiopia's Reproductive Health Strategy (2006–2015) is launched. It identifies six priority areas: social and cultural determinants of women's reproductive health; fertility and family planning; maternal and newborn health; HIV/AIDS; reproductive health of young people; and reproductive organ cancers.[10]
2009	Campaign	The Ethiopian Ministry of Health launches a lymphatic filariasis elimination program. The program reaches 84% of its target by providing annual Mass drug administration of a single dose of ivermectin and albendazole to a target of almost 100,000 people.[3]	Gambela Region
2010	Campaign	More than 14.7 million people receive azithromycin through the Carter Center, using what is known as the MalTra-Week Strategy (combining malaria case detection and treatment with mass azithromycin distribution).[3]
2010	Policy	The Ethiopian Drug Administration and Control Authority DACA is restructured as Food, Medicine and Health Care Administration and Control Authority (EFMHACA) by Proclamation No. 661/2009, bearing additional responsibilities like regulation of food, health care personnel and settings.[5]
2011	Report	Individual latrine coverage (ownership and utilization) reaches 45% for rural households in Ethiopia.[3]
2013	Policy	Ethiopia includes podoconiosis in its national neglected tropical diseases (NTD) master plan, given that the greatest burden of podoconiosis globally is assumed to occur in Ethiopia.[11]
2016	Report	Life expectancy in the Ethiopia is estimated at 58 years, being ranked 203rd out of 228 political subdivisions.[12]

See also

• Health in Ethiopia
• List of hospitals in Ethiopia

References

1. "Ethiopia's Physician Brain-Drain Problem; What to Do?". Retrieved 14 October 2016.
2. "Life Expectancy". Retrieved 18 November 2016.
3. Deribe, K; Meribo, K; Gebre, T; Hailu, A; Ali, A; Aseffa, A; Davey, G (2012). "The burden of neglected tropical diseases in Ethiopia, and opportunities for integrated control and elimination". Parasit Vectors. 5: 240. doi:10.1186/1756-3305-5-240. PMC 3551690. PMID 23095679.
4. "Training for the future: Building sustainable health systems, one doctor at a time". Retrieved 14 October 2016.
5. Suleman, S; Woliyi, A; Woldemichael, K; Tushune, K; Duchateau, L; Degroote, A; Vancauwenberghe, R; Bracke, N; De Spiegeleer, B (2016). "Pharmaceutical Regulatory Framework in Ethiopia: A Critical Evaluation of Its Legal Basis and Implementation". Ethiop J Health Sci. 26: 259–76. doi:10.4314/ejhs.v26i3.9. PMC 4913194. PMID 27358547.
6. "Ethiopiaid". Retrieved 20 November 2016.
7. "ActionAid". Retrieved 14 October 2016.
8. "ETIOLOGY OF BACTERIAL MENINGITIS IN ETHIOPIA, 2007 – 2011: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY" (PDF). Retrieved 14 October 2016.
9. "Project Harar". Retrieved 14 October 2016.
10. "Ethiopia's Reproductive Health Strategy" (PDF). Retrieved 17 October 2016.
11. Deribe, K; Cano, J; Newport, MJ; Golding, N; Pullan, RL; Sime, H; Gebretsadik, A; Assefa, A; Kebede, A; Hailu, A; Rebollo, MP; Shafi, O; Bockarie, MJ; Aseffa, A; Hay, SI; Reithinger, R; Enquselassie, F; Davey, G; Brooker, SJ (2015). "Mapping and Modelling the Geographical Distribution and Environmental Limits of Podoconiosis in Ethiopia". PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 9: e0003946. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0003946. PMC 4519246. PMID 26222887.
12. "Life Expectancy". Retrieved 17 October 2016.