Ethiopia Rural Health Appeal

Please support our project to improve access to health care for some of the poorest, most isolated communities in remote rural parts of Ethiopia. We ship redundant medical equipment (such as beds, trolleys and diagnostic equipment) from hospitals in the UK to re-equip health centres in remote rural parts of Ethiopia which are in a poor state of repair and where health care for the local farming communities is almost non-existent.

Outside the main towns and cities, many areas of Ethiopia have no roads and people survive mainly on subsistence farming. Here, patients only seek medical attention in extreme cases and often need to be carried for up to three or four days to reach a basic health centre. Health facilities in these areas have received no new medical equipment in over thirty years in many cases and when they arrive, there is likely to be no equipment for tests, to help with diagnosis, or for treatment - even beds tend to be in a poor state of repair and patients often must lie on the floor. Patients, having travelled long distances to reach a health centre, often cannot get the medical care they need.

Women are frequently unable to leave their domestic duties to attend medical appointments, particularly if referral or follow-up appointments cannot be undertaken in one day, and reproductive health problems (such as pre-eclampsia and fistula) often receive no treatment until the problems become acute.

Our project is re-equipping and rehabilitating the dilapidated rural health centres closer to where these isolated communities live and which will ensure vital medical treatment and health advice is available to all, free at the point of need.

It will improve access to health care for women without them having to travel such long distances, leading to more appointments being kept and an earlier resolution to medical problems. Local access to effective health care leads to improvements in maternal-child health and the reduced risk of women having to carry out arduous tasks while unwell. They are able to receive preventative treatment and seek advice for themselves and their families when local health facilities are better equipped to handle such cases.

Our most pressing need is for funds to help in re-equipping these hospitals and health centres, and a donation would be used towards the cost of purchasing second-hand 20ft sea containers and shipping them, full of medical equipment, to Ethiopia. The total amount we need to raise for this is £20,000 and any contribution would be gratefully received. Subsequently, the containers are adapted in Ethiopia for re-use as health posts, where none yet exist, or as secure medical storage.

Your contribution is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Andrew Chadwick