Southern Ethiopia - Gwent Health Link

This is a summary of activities carried out by the link in 2011. For individual visit reports by link members, click here. For annual reports from previous years, click here.

In 2011 the Link lost Peter Smith, a founder member of the link, after his long courageous battle with cancer. Peter will be greatly missed by all of us because of his larger than life presence at all of the meetings, childlike enthusiasm in visiting Ethiopia for teaching even in the middle of his illness and above all for his single handed effort in starting the blood bank services at Dilla Hospital.

A total of 32, including 5 observers, visited with the link in its two visits to Ethiopia in March and November 2011.

In February / March visit the link team was joined by members from the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, Overseas Development group and UROLINK, British Association of Urological Surgeons, Overseas group. In November visit the team was joined by anaesthetists from Mothers of Africa charity, Wales, Dr Tony Jewell, Chief Medical Officer of Wales, Professor CB Lynch from Oxford as well as by a journalist. Three pre university students in their gap year also visited with the link.

In 2011 the Link also organised and supported placement of one medical student and a junior doctor in Hawassa Hospital and at the Wondogenet health centre.

Training and teaching

In its two visits the Link organised several training workshops and teaching programmes. A total of 530 frontline health workers in SNNP region of Ethiopia received training in these workshops. This included 17 hospital specialists’ training in Urology, Emergency gynaecology and obstetrics; 16 midwifery college tutors in emergency obstetrics teaching; 78 MSc health officers students and General practitioners in emergency surgical, trauma/orthopaedics and obstetric skills; 66 midwives training in emergency obstetrics and new born care; 22 nurse anaesthetists skills update; 32 health officers in setting quality and standards of care in their workplaces and 303 community health extension workers training in safe and clean delivery, care of pregnant mothers and new born. Apart from this nearly 200 medical students received teaching in various topics from the visiting link members.

The Link donated training manikins, pelvis & dolls and other training materials to all of the 8 nursing colleges in SNNP as well as to Hawassa College.

Laboratory team supported training of Hawassa College laboratory team in their preparation for WHO quality standard accreditation.