FRONTESPIZIO - Cooperazione Italiana allo Sviluppo

70 Carlo Resti, Yohannes TadesseUrban-Rural Imbalance in DistributionCurrently, the government does not seem to have a proper and consistentmechanism for ensuring the deployment of graduates in places where they arerequired. Most of the available health workers (especially the higher levelones) tend to concentrate in the few major urban areas, Addis Ababa havingthe largest concentration.Table 2 - Percentage Distribution of Professional Categoryby Place of Residence 4Professional categoryPlace of residenceUrban RuralTotal in numberPhysicians 88 12 1,480Nurse 83 17 862Midwives 96 4 643Dentists 76 24 6,705Pharmacists 70 30 686Physiotherapist 76 24 107Laboratory 73 27 408Radiographer 59 49 171Environmental and public Health 100 0 11Other technician and cadres 100 0 60HEP workers 12 88 6,264Others 40 60 7,160Gender Balance of Health WorkersAnother noteworthy issue in the magnitude and distribution of theEthiopian health work force is the fact that it is highly male dominated, especiallyin view of the preponderance of maternal and child health conditionswithin the major health problems. For instance, in 1997, only 11% of physicians,15% of health officers and 48% of nurses were females.4 MOH & WHO. Progress Report on the 2005 Human Resource for Health Assessmentin Ethiopia. 2006. Human Resources Department, MOH, Addis Ababa.