FRONTESPIZIO - Cooperazione Italiana allo Sviluppo
FRONTESPIZIO - Cooperazione Italiana allo Sviluppo
FRONTESPIZIO - Cooperazione Italiana allo Sviluppo
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5. Human resources for health (HRH): a crucial element for achieving international MDGs. 67The Ethiopian context and the nature of the crisisEthiopia has an estimated population of above 76 million and is the secondmost populous country in Sub-Saharan Africa. 85% of the population is ruraland earns its living from rain-fed subsistence agriculture which constitutesabout 42 % of GDP. The country is one of the poorest in the world with percapita income not exceeding 100 USD and about 44% of the populationlives below the poverty line. The population has been growing at a rate of 2,8% per year. Life expectancy is approximately 54 years for both sexes.Ethiopia’s poverty strategy, the guiding strategic framework for the five-yearperiod 2006-2010, is the PASDEP (Plan for Accelerated and SustainedDevelopment to End Poverty). The PASDEP carries forward importantstrategic directions related to human development, rural development, foodsecurity, and capacity-building. The document is also focusing on growth inthe coming five-year period – with a particular emphasis on greater commercializationof agriculture and the private sector - and a scaling-up of efforts toachieve the Millennium Development Goals.Up to now there is no formally endorsed HRH strategy at central level, buta “health sector human resource development framework (2006-2010)” as theonly reference guideline. Some of the Regional Health Bureaux in Ethiopiahave started to implement in autonomy some management strategies to curbthe migration of health professionals, especially medical doctors. The manifestationsof the crisis in Ethiopia are particularly acute. In 2006 a HRH nationalObservatory has been established to develop soon a comprehensivestrategy.Quantitative Shortage of All Forms of Health WorkersEthiopia is considered to have one of the lowest ratios of doctors to populationin the world. In particular, with the recent expansion of health facilitiesacross the country, severe shortages of health workers for staffing them havebeen witnessed. Furthermore, the threshold density below which high coverage(80%) of essential interventions, (including those necessary to meetMDGs) is estimated at 2.3 health workers per 1,000 people 1 , the definitionof Health workers being all people primarily engaged in actions with the primaryintent of enhancing health. However, with a total workforce of 45,8591 WHO. The world health report 2006: Working together for health. 2006. WHO,Geneva.