Pastoralist women living in remote communities are now using life-saving sexual and reproductive health services as a result of this project in the Bale Lowlands area of Ethiopia.
The project trains key health workers, provides family planning options at local health facilities and raises awareness of health within hard to reach communities.
Nomadic pastoralist communities are normally excluded from health services because they live in remote locations and regularly move to find suitable grazing land for livestock. This project aims to improve the health of 25,000 women of reproductive age by:
- training Traditional Birth Attendants on danger signs during pregnancy and enabling them to refer women to health facilities during complicated pregnancies or births
- working with community volunteers to provide family planning advice and distribute contraceptives
- installing rainwater harvesting schemes at health facilities to enhance the quality of maternal and child health services and improve hygiene
- equipping health centres with contraceptive supplies and essential medical equipment
- training health staff to provide life saving assistance to women during childbirth
- working with communities to raise awareness about HIV, sexually transmitted infections and harmful traditional practices such as Female Genital Mutilation
- piloting an HIV counselling and testing service to contribute to a reduction in HIV rates
Health Poverty Action is working with the Ministry of Health, community leaders and the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus on this project, which is funded by the European Commission.
Most maternal deaths are the result of preventable problems such as complicated labour, haemorrhages or unsafe abortions and could be averted if women could access timely medical care at health facilities.
As no public or private transport systems exist here, the project is piloting a community based emergency transportation scheme to enable women in childbirth to access life saving care at health centres.
One obstacle for delivery of maternity services is the lack of safe water at health facilities.
To resolve this, the project is constructing water storage tanks at two health centres and five rural health posts.
More than 130 key health workers and community volunteers will benefit from training opportunities, building their skills and capacity to help others.
Last modified: 30/03/2012
