Project medical coordinator Rachael Cummings reports from West Imey where Merlin was responding to a diarrhea outbreak. Read more....

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Ethiopia is one of Africa’s poorest countries: over 80 percent of the nation's 77 million people live below the poverty line, 10 million of whom are at risk of starvation. The current global rise in food prices and failed seasonal rains have left this country on the brink of famine, with millions expected to need emergency aid in the coming months.

Health indicators in Ethiopia are among the worst in the world. Preventable disease counts for at least 60 percent of health problems in the country. One of the main causes of serious illnesses and death is malaria, as many people do not have access to effective treatment and prevention care.

Ethiopia also faces severe shortages of clean water and poor sanitation. In areas where Merlin is working, only 17 percent of people have access to clean water. Diarrheal diseases are common as people are forced to use contaminated water supplies and do not have access to toilets and washing facilities.

HOW MERLIN IS HELPING:

Merlin has been working in Ethiopia since 2003, improving health care for vulnerable people in some of the most under-served areas of the country. Currently more than 100 Merlin health and support staff work in coordination with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health in nine districts of two regions, all of which are heavily affected by poverty, drought and internal conflict.

Supporting static and mobile clinics
Merlin supports 25 health facilities and operates two mobile clinics in Oromiya Region, serving a over 100,000 people with comprehensive curative and preventative care. In Somali Region, we support six primary health care facilities and one mobile health team, all of which deliver vital health care to highly vulnerable nomadic people, including nomadic populations.

Addressing the food crisis 
Merlin is running a health and nutrition program in the severely drought-affected Oromiya Region. In July 2008, we screened 600 children for severe acute malnutrition and 333 pregnant and lactating women in four sites in Adadle area. We have also trained 113 community volunteers in the causes and effects of malnutrition, the benefits of breast feeding, complementary feeding practices, and the monitoring and referral of malnutrition. The volunteers make home visits, referring all malnourished children and breastfeeding mothers to health facilities where they receive high energy, peanut-based paste, or in extreme cases, medical treatment.

Improving preventative health care
Merlin provided immunisation programmes through outreach and mobile clinics in Oromiya Region, vaccinating 8,088 children between December 2007 and March 2008. We will implement a similar full vaccination program for children under 5 years old in Somali Region. We also provide information on pre-natal care, malaria, tuberculosis, and common childhood illnesses. 39,566 people benefited from these health promotion sessions in Oromiya Region between December 2007 and March 2008.

Key achievements

• Providing health care to 408,570 people through 34 health facilities in Somali and Oromiya Regions
• Conducting a rapid health needs assessment in Fer Fer Woreda in December 2008, and a nutrition assessment in Borena Zone, Oromiya Region, with a view to expanding operations in response to the current food crisis
• Training 113 volunteers to carry out nutrition screening in 8,661 homes between December 2007 and March 2008
• In Ginnir Woreda, immunising 970 children under five against common childhood diseases, and 1,495 women of child bearing age against tetanus

Donors supporting Merlin's work

United Nations – Humanitarian Response Fund (UN-HRF), UNICEF, European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), CERF, OFDA

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