FRONTESPIZIO - Cooperazione Italiana allo Sviluppo
FRONTESPIZIO - Cooperazione Italiana allo Sviluppo
FRONTESPIZIO - Cooperazione Italiana allo Sviluppo
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112 Tigray RHB; T.M.A.; IISMAN onlus; Italian Cooperation - HSDPSummaryAs in most developing countries, basic health services in Ethiopia are notavailable particularly to the large segment of the population living in rural areas.A shortage of qualified staff, poor diagnostic capability, scarcity of equipmentand medicines, etc. is a common situation in the country. The per capitaexpenditure for health is about 5US$ per year, 2/3 of which are “out ofpocket” by the patient. These shortcomings are even more dramatically evidentat peripheral level where a minimum health service package is still notyet available to the population. Moreover the problem is worsened and aggravatedby the escalating HIV/AIDS epidemic and its consequences.This OPERATIONAL RESEARCH scheme therefore deals with the improvementof basic health services in order to address the emerging skin diseasesrelated to HIV/AIDS and to other systemic illnesses in Tigray Region.This endeavour aims at improving the capacity of health professionals andhealth workers at 1 st and 2° level (Health Post and Health Centre) throughtraining and surveys on skin conditions in the research localities. Capacitybuilding together with basic survey strategy is believed to improve the diagnosticand curative capabilities of those health workers, as well as their orientationin case referral abilities. The survey findings will provide a useful databasefor future improvement on the skills of the health workers and on theservice provided to the community.The Italian Cooperation (IC) in Ethiopia through its “Contribution to HS-DP” programme is the prominent fund giver for this project, whereas theTigray Regional Health Bureau (RHB) is the institutional counterpart andthe ultimate beneficiary. The IISMAS Onlus (Istituto Internazionale ScienzeMediche Antropologiche Sociali) - Istituto San Gallicano in Rome, togetherwith the Tigray Medical Association (TMA) will be the two scientific partnersand implementing agencies. The project duration is two years fromOctober 2005 to September 2007.1. Background informationEthiopia is located in the horn of Africa and it is one of the largest countriesin Africa, extending over an area of about 1.112.000 square kilometers.Ethiopia is the second most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa afterNigeria with an estimated total population of approximately 71.1 million accordingto the projection of the 1994 population and housing census, of