As COVID-19 spreads, wealthy countries are struggling with an influx of patients requiring screening, testing, and intensive care. In addition to national calls for social distancing, providers cancelled elective surgeries, shifted to virtual care where possible, and set up temporary hospitals to handle increasing demand. Countries with fewer resources and limited intensive care capacity were quick to implement and enforce stringent lockdowns in an effort to stop the spread of infection before their health systems become overwhelmed.

The COVID-19 response is impacting the availability of essential health services, especially health services for pregnant women and newborns that cannot be delayed or shifted to other settings. In the United States, some hospitals are converting maternity wards to make space for COVID-19 patients, limiting birth companions in the labor room, and offering induced labor to get women in and out of the hospital as quickly as possible. Neonatal intensive care units are preparing for staff shortages as an increasing number of health workers are being exposed, while midwifery services are overwhelmed by calls from concerned mothers now exploring home birth options.

Mothers in low- and middle-income countries are likely to face additional challenges in accessing quality care

In low- and middle-income countries, the impact of containment and preparedness policies on maternal and newborn health could be more pronounced. Even before the emergence of COVID-19, high-quality and timely maternal healthcare services were unavailable, inaccessible, or unaffordable for millions of women. Now, restrictions on travel and gatherings, health facilities with limited infection prevention supplies and unreliable infection control practices, and disrupted community health worker routines threaten to exacerbate limited access to care and negatively impact women’s health.

During the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014-2016, the use of reproductive and maternal healthcare services plummeted so much that maternal and neonatal deaths and stillbirths indirectly caused by the epidemic outnumbered direct Ebola-related deaths. Women were unable to access family planning, completed fewer antenatal care visits, and were more likely to give birth at home. Some of these women stopped going to facilities due to fear of infection and increased physical and financial barriers. Others were denied care if they were suspected of having Ebola as many facilities were not equipped to provide maternal healthcare to infected women.

Disrupted maternal healthcare during COVID-19 could lead to significant loss of life

The effect that COVID-19 will have on use of maternal healthcare services is still uncertain; much depends on whether low- and middle-income countries’ efforts to prevent further spread of the virus are effective. We can make some estimates, though, based on what we learned after Ebola.

We applied the same relative reductions in family planning use, antenatal care visits, and facility-based delivery seen during the Ebola epidemic to estimate the indirect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and newborn health in India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Pakistan over the next 12 months using the Lives Saved Tool. These four countries are the most populous low- and middle- income countries in the world— accounting for almost one third of the world’s population — and continuously struggle with poor maternal and newborn health outcomes.

Significant increases in maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths would occur across these four countries over the next year if health service use declined compared to what we would see if these countries maintained current use of maternal and reproductive health services. As illustrated, we could see as many as 31,980 additional maternal deaths, 395,440 additional newborn deaths, and 338,760 additional stillbirths. That is a total of 766,180 additional deaths across these four countries alone and corresponds to a 31% increase in mortality.

These results assume the same decline in service use would occur in these four countries as occurred in Sierra Leone during the Ebola epidemic and are in the absence of immediate action, which could help avoid much of the service use decrease and ensure mothers and newborns are protected from indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Countries must act to mitigate the indirect impact of COVID-19 on mothers and newborns

While these estimates suggest a significant impact, countries can learn from and adopt successful examples of maintaining access to high-quality maternal and reproductive healthcare during a large-scale emergency. Ministries of Health and partners need to develop their own, context-specific solutions like the innovative maternity isolation ward at the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone during the Ebola epidemic. As governments prepare their systems to deal with the influx of COVID-19 patients, they must also act urgently to ensure mothers and newborns are still able to get the routine and emergency care they need.

This includes ensuring funds for the COVID-19 response go toward efforts to ensure continuity of care with adequate funding for infection prevention and control supplies and equipment for healthcare workers. Health services must remain financially and physically accessible for women whose households may lose income or whose normal service delivery provider may no longer be available. Health workers serving on the frontlines to deliver health services to mothers and babies in their communities should be involved in policy response discussions and need to have access to up-to-date, evidence-based information that can be delivered through peer-to-peer networks and messaging applications. Referral pathways and transportation must remain intact to deal with obstetric emergencies and hospitals need to be able to properly screen, isolate, and care for infected pregnant women. Guidance specific to reproductive age and pregnant women needs to be developed and effectively communicated to women in their own languages. Ensuring services are delivered with dignity and respect must also be prioritized during these uncertain and stressful times.

Countries need to act swiftly to ensure essential reproductive, maternal, and newborn health services continue to be available as COVID-19 progresses. The lives of mothers and their babies depend on it.

https://medium.com/@HealthPolicyPlus/estimating-the-potential-impact-of-...

This guidance is a living document that is being updated as new information becomes available. The following advice is provided as a resource for  healthcare professionals based on a combination of available evidence, good practice and expert advice.

The priorities are:
(i) The reduction of transmission of COVID-19 to pregnant women.
(ii) The provision of safe care to pregnant women with suspected/confirmed COVID-19.

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/COVID-19-infection-in-pregnancy.pdf#overlay-context=node

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: Genet Azmach is a senior midwife and head of the Delivery Case Team at the Kotebe Health Center where she has been serving for the past 8 years. She has been providing lifesaving maternal health services assisting pregnant women and giving sexual and reproductive health services against all odds.

“There have been times that no cut-gut was available to suture tear and beds to admit laboring pregnant women; mothers were also convulsing due to absence of anticonvulsants and other essential medications,” says Genet.   

She recalls a very sad event she encountered on duty. “I will never forget a bleeding pregnant woman whom we referred to a hospital for advanced care who died there while waiting for specialists to attend to her,” Genet says ruefully.
While recognizing the daunting challenge posed by the current COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Genet is of the firm view that the challenge is not insurmountable.

Ms. Genet says she and her colleagues are trying to tackle the COVID-19 challenge taking the necessary precautions. “Our challenge emanates from the fact that it is difficult to attend to pregnant women from distance owing to the nature of labor and delivery,” she indicates.

The Kotebe Health Center is ill equipped to provide delivery services for women diagnosed with coronavirus according to Ms. Genet. On the other hand the client flow has increased significantly at her health center after the COVID-19 outbreak partly due to the fact that a nearby hospital has been converted to coronavirus treatment center.  

Ms. Genet goes on to express concern on the availability of Personal Protective Equipment.  “What we fear is that health care providers might surrender to the coronavirus infection before we serve our community, specifically pregnant women, due to shortage of protective equipment just like what we see in other countries,” she says.

UNFPA is providing technical guidance and coordinating with partners to distribute emergency reproductive health kits and PPE to health workers, and to supply dignity kits containing essential hygiene supplies to communities.

These efforts are part of a 6-month pandemic response plan to address the needs of the most vulnerable women and girls, including those who are pregnant and breastfeeding. The plan also prioritizes the protection of Ethiopia’s health workforce, the continuity of reproductive health care and supplies, and addresses the increase in women’s vulnerability to gender-based violence.

The Ethiopian Midwives Association, with funding from UNFPA and support from regional health bureaus, is raising awareness about how to prevent COVID-19 infection. Information is being disseminated in different regional languages in the country.

Ms. Genet is striving to keep up with updates about the COVID-19 pandemic to help her perform her duty better. “But we need specific orientation with respect to coronavirus and pregnancy,” she says.

Ms. Genet is of a strong view that every woman is entitled to lifesaving sexual and reproductive health services even during emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic.  

የኮቪድ-19ን ወረርሽኝን ምክንያት በማድረግ አንድ አንድ የጤና ተቋማት አገልግሎት ማቆማቸው በመደበኛው የጤና አገልግሎቶች ላይ መስተጓጎል እንዳስከተለ የጤና ሚኒስቴር ሚኒስትር ደኤታ ዶ/ር ደረጀ ዱጉማ ዛሬ በሰጡት ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ አስታውቀዋል፡፡

ለኮሮና ቫይረስ የህክምና አገልግሎት ለመስጠት ከተለዩት የጤና ተቋማት ዉጪ ሁሉም የጤና ተቋማት እንደተለመደው መደበኛዉን የጤና አገልግሎት መስጠት እንዳለባቸው አሳስበዋል፡፡

ዶ/ር ደረጀ አያይዘውም በተለይ በእናቶች እና ህፃናት ጤና አገልግሎት፣ ተላላፊ እና ተላላፊ ባልሆኑ በሽታዎች ህክምና ላይ መደበኛ አገልግሎት መስጠታቸውን የሚከታተል ግብረ ሀይል ከፌደራል እስከ ወረዳ ድረስ ተቋቁሞ ወደ ስራ ተገብቷል ብለዋል፡፡

በኮሮና ቫይረስ ወረርሽኝ ስጋት ምክንያት የህክምና ተቋሞቻቸውን የዘጉ የግል ጤና ተቋማት እንዳሉም የተደረሰበት ሲሆን ተግባራቸው ትክክል እንዳልሆነ እና በፍጥነት ሁሉም ለአገልግሎት ክፍት እንዲሆኑ ይደረጋል።

ሕብረተሰቡም ወረርሽኙን ለመከላክል የሚደረገዉን ጥረት በማገዝ አገልግሎት ለማግኘት ወደ ጤና ተቋማት በሚሄድበት ወቅት ተገቢውን ጥንቃቄ ማድረግ እንዳለበት አሳስበዋል፡፡

ሙሉ ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫውን ሊንኩን ተጭነው ማግኘት ይችላሉ:

http://www.moh.gov.et/ejcc/am/Press_Release

የስድስት ወራት የኮንትራት ቅጥር ማስታወቂያ

በዓለም ላይ የተከሰተው የኮሮና ቫይረስ ወረርሽኝ በሀገራችን ውስጥም በመከሰቱ መንግስት ወረርሽኙን ለመቆጣጠጠር ከፍተኛ ጥረት እያደረገ ሲሆን ወደፊት የወረርሽኙ ሁኔታ እየከፋ ከመጣ በርካታ የጤና ባለሙያዎች ማሰማራት አስፈልጓል፡፡ ስለሆነም ከዚህ በታች በተጠቀሱት ሙያዎች የተመረቃችሁ እና ከዚህ ቀደም ያልተመዘገባችሁ ሊንኩን በመጫን ከሚያዝያ 7 ቀን 2012 ዓ.ም እስከ ግንቦት 6 ቀን 2012 ዓ.ም ለአንድ ወር ያህል እንድትመዘገቡ እንጠይቃለን፡፡

1. Medicine
2. Public Health Officer
3. Nurse
4. Environmental Health
5. Health Education
6. Pharmacy
7. Medical laboratory
8. Midwife
9. Other Health professionals

ኮቪድ-19 የስራ እድል መመዝገብያ - http://www.moh.gov.et/ejcc/am/job-application-form

ለቅጥር የተመረጣችሁ የጤና ባለሙያዎች ወደፊት በጤና ሚኒስቴር ድረ ገጽ እና ማህበራዊ ሚዲያ የሚገለጽ ይሆናል፡፡ይህንን መረጃ ለሌች የጤና ባለሙያዎች ያጋሩ!

Dear all,

It is indeed an honor and a privilege to pass message on the 28th International Day of the Midwife celebration under the theme “Midwives with women: Celebrate. Demonstrate. Mobilise. Unite – our time is NOW!”. The day will be a time to celebrate the work of midwives globally, demonstrating through evidence the impact of midwives and the case for investing in midwives, mobilizing midwives, women’s and the wider community to advocate for midwife-led care and Uniting midwives and women towards a common goal of gender equality.

Every day over 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. This is one woman approximately every 2 minutes. In Ethiopia, 30 women are dying every day, 1000 women’s are dying every month and around 12,000 women’s are dying every year. Among 1.9 billion women of reproductive age (15-49 years) living in the world in 2019, 1.1 billion have a need for family planning, that is, they are either current users of contraceptives or have an unmet need for family planning. If all unmet need for modern methods were met, 52 million unintended pregnancies could be averted per year, thereby preventing the deaths of 70,000 women from pregnancy-related causes. Investments in quality midwifery care are essential to address all these gaps. (Lancet 2019). Midwives can help avert over two thirds of maternal and newborn deaths and disabilities. When midwives are educated to international standards and are supported, they can provide more than 87% of all sexual and reproductive health services including caring for women and babies throughout pregnancy and childbirth, providing contraceptives, managing sexually transmitted infections (including HIV), providing comprehensive abortion care and more which avert more than 80% of all maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths.

Since establishment of Ethiopian Midwives Association in 1992, the association is contributing its professional part to the countries development especially in maternal, Neonatal, children, youths sexual and reproductive health areas in collaboration with different government and non-government organizations. Improving the quality of care around the time of birth, especially in low and middle income countries, has been identified as the most impactful strategy for reducing stillbirths, maternal, and neonatal deaths.

Midwives are the backbone of healthy families, communities and health systems, Midwives play a vital role in the gender equality movement and Midwives are the essential workforce for universal health coverage. Scaling up investments in quality midwifery care are central to achieving the Health SDG; eliminating maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity and ensuring universal access to sexual reproductive health and rights.

Even though, WHO has declared 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife but they are not celebrating their year as expected with happiness due to COVID-19 pandemic which is sweeping the world. Today, we celebrate both 2020 IDM and International Year of the Midwives and the Nurse by recognizing the role of Midwives they are playing in serving women and their newborns during the ongoing corona pandemic. Amidst the raging COVID 19 pandemic, Midwives continue to show resilience and provide life-saving services to pregnant women, ensuring healthy outcomes for women and their babies.

As the world battles COVID-19, women continue to get pregnant and babies are still being born. Childbirth doesn't stop for pandemics, and neither do midwives. Midwives are working tirelessly on the front line in health facilities risking their own lives and wellbeing to save the lives of women and newborns. Midwives, like all other frontline health workers deserve safe working conditions and respect for the work they do in providing essential care for mothers and babies despite the personal risk this presents. Therefore, the association call up the government and other partners to support midwives with the necessary personal protective equipment to protect them and sustain care for women, Newborns and their families in COVID-19 pandemic.

In closing, I call up all Midwives to unite and demonstrate your compassionate care while providing quality maternal and newborn health.

Happy International Day of the Midwife!!!

http://midwives.org.et/sites/default/files/IDM%20Message.pdf#overlay-context=node/325

የኢትዮጵያ ሚድዋይፎች ማኅበር የኮቪድ-19ን ለመከላከል የሚያስችሉ ከዓለም አቀፍ ድርጅቶች አማካኝነት ባገኘው ገንዘብ የገዛቸውን 1 ነጥብ 6 ሚሊዮን ብር የሚገመቱ የሕክምና መገልገያ ቁሳቁሶች ለሕክምና ተቋማት ማስረከብ ጀመረ።

የማኅበሩ ዋና ሥራ አስኪያጅ አቶ የሺጥላ ተስፋዬ፣ ማኅበሩ ዓለም አቀፍ የጤና ስጋት የሆነውን የኮሮናቫይረስ ወረርሽኝ ለመከላከል በተለይ በእናቶች እና ሕፃናት ዙሪያ ለሚሠሩ ሚድዋይፎች  የሚሰጥ መሆኑን ገልጸዋል። ድጋፉም የፊት ጭምብል (N95 Mask) ፣ የንጽሕና መጠበቂያ ሳኒታይዘር፣  የፊት መከላከያ ጭምብል (Face Shield)፣ ሙሉ ልብስ (Water proof Gown) ያካተተ ነው።

ማኅበሩ ዓለም አቀፍ ደረጃ የሚድዋይፎች ቀን ምክንያት በማድረግ ድጋፉን በጋንዲ መታሰቢያ ሆስፒታል ለሚገኙ የሕክምና ባለሞያዎች ማስረከብ ጀምሯል።  በቀጣይም  በዘጠኙም ክልሎች እና በሁለቱም ከተማ መስተዳድሮች ለሚገኙ የሕክምና ተቋማት እንደሚሰጥ አቶ የሺጥላ ጠቁመዋል።

በጤና ሚኒስቴር የእናቶች እና ሕፃናት ዳይሬክተር ዶ/ር መሠረት ዘላለም ማኅበሩ ላደረው ድጋፍ ምስጋና አቅርበዋል።  ዳይሬክተሯ የእናቶች እና ሕፃናት ሕክምና ትኩረት እንደሚሻ ገልጸው፣ በኮቪድ-19 ምክንያት የወሊድ፣ የቤተሰብ እቅድ እና የጨቅላ ሕፃናት ሌሎች የጤና አገልግሎት እንዳይስተጓጎሉ ማድረግ ይጠበቃል ብለዋል። በመሆኑም ሁሉም መሰረታዊ አገልግሎት ሳይስተጓጎሉ በተገቢው ሁኔታ እንዲሰጡ ድጋፍ እንዲሚያደርጉም ዳይሬክተሯ ጠይቀዋል።

ሚድዋይፎችና ነርሶች የኮሮናቫይረስ ወረርሽኝን ከመከላከል በተጓዳኝ የእናቶችንና የጨቅላ ህጻናትን ሞት ለመቀነስ ይበልጥ ሃላፊነታቸውን እንዲወጡ ተጠየቀ። የዓለም የጤና ድርጅት የፈረንጆቹን 2020 “የሚድዋይፎች ና ነርሶች ዓመት” እንዲሆን መወሰኑ ይታወሳል። ጉዳዩን አስመልክቶም የኢትዮጵያ ‘ሚዲዋይፎችና ነርሶች ማህበር’ ከጤና ሚኒስቴር ጋር በመሆን ዛሬ መግለጫ ሰጥተዋል።

በዓለም አቀፍ ደረጃ ሚድዋይፎችና ነርሶች ከአጠቃላይ የጤና ባለሙያዎች ቁጥር 50 በመቶ የሚሆነውን እንደሚሸፍኑም ነው በዚህ ወቅት የተገለጸው። በኢትዮጵያ ደግሞ 70 በመቶ የሚሆኑት የጤና ሰራተኞች ሴቶች ናቸው።

የኢትዮጵያ ሚድዋይፎች ማህበር ፕሬዚዳንት አቶ ዘነበ አካል በመግለጫቸው የዓለም የጤና ድርጅት በ2030 በዓለም አቀፍ ደረጃ ከሚወልዱ እናቶች መካከል 70 በመቶ የሚሆኑትን በህይወት የማስቀጠል ግብ ማስቀመጡን ገልጸዋል።  በኢትዮጵያ የእናቶችን ሞት በመቀነስ ረገድ በርካታ ስኬቶች መመዝገቡን ጠቁመው፤ “አሁንም ቢሆን በቀን እስከ 30 የሚደርሱ እናቶች በወሊድ ወቅት ህይወታቸውን ያጣሉ” ብለዋል። ከ10 ዓመት በኋላ ይህን ቁጥር ወደ አምስት ዝቅ ለማድረግ እቅድ መያዙንም አውስተዋል። በመሆኑም ሚድዋፎች ዓመቱን ሲዘክሩ የእናቶችን ሞት ለመቀነስ ይበልጥ ሃላፊነታቸውን በመወጣት መሆን እንዳለበት ነው ያብራሩት።

በተጨማሪ በአገር አቀፍ ደረጃ የሚድዋይፎች ቁጥር ለመጨመር በትኩረት እንዲሰራም ጥሪ አቅርበዋል። የኢትዮጵያ ነርሶች ማህበር ፕሬዚዳንት አቶ ታፈሰ በቀለ በበኩላቸው ዓመቱ የነርሲንግ ሙያ መስራች የሆኑት ፍሎረንስ ናትንጌል የተወለዱበት 200ኛ ዓመት የሚዘከርበት ከመሆኑ ጋር ተያይዞ ለነርሶች ልዩ ትርጉም እንዳለው ተናግረዋል።

“ነርሶች ለራሳቸው ህይወት ሳይሳሱ እስከ ጦር ሜዳ ድረስ በመዝመት ጭምር ህይወት ሲያስቀጥሉ ቆይተዋል፤ እያስቀጠሉም ይገኛሉ” ብለዋል። “ወቅታዊውን የኮሮናቫይረስ ወረርሽኝ በመከላከል ረገድም ነርሶች የፊት መስመር ተሰላፊ ናቸው” ሲሉም ነው የተናገሩት። በመሆኑም ለዚህ ውለታቸው እውቅና እንዲሁም በጤናው ሴክተር ላይ ተገቢውን ቦታ ሊሰጣቸው እንደሚገባ ጠቁመዋል። ዓመቱም ይህን ታሳቢ በማድረግ እንደተዘጋጀ በመጠቆም።

ኢትዮጵያ በጤናው ዘርፍ ባስመዘገበቻቸው ታላላቅ ስኬቶች የነርሶችና ሚድዋይፎች ሚና ጉልህ እንደነበር የተናገሩት ደግሞ የጤና ሚኒስትር ዴኤታ ዶክተር ደረጀ ድጉማ ናቸው።

በእነዚህ ሙያዎች ላይ ከፍተኛ ኢንቨስትመንት ካልተደረገ በ2030 በዓለም አቀፍ ደረጃ ዘጠኝ ሚሊዮን የነርሶችና ሚዲዋይፎች እጥረት እንደሚከሰት አስታውሰው፤ “መንግስት ይህን ታሳቢ ያደረገ እንቅስቃሴ ያደርጋል” ብለዋል። የጤና ሚኒስቴር የነርሶችንና ሚድዋይፎችን የሙያ ጥራትና የስራ ከባቢ ለማሻሸል ከአጋር ተቋማት ጋር በመተባበር እንደሚሰራም ነው የገለጹት።

https://www.ena.et/?p=88046&fbclid=IwAR2tr3JFhUKeUtdfgwu-UK9xGbP1pu9yYpo...

ሚድዋይፎች እና ነርሶች ለእናቶች ፤ ለህጻናት፣ ለልጆች፤ ለወጣቶች፤ እና ለአፍላ ወጣቶች አዛውንቶችን የጤና እንክብካቤ በማድረግ ሕይወታቸውን የሚያሳልፉ፣ ሕይወት አድን ክትባቶችን እና የጤና ምክሮችን የሚሰጡ፣ የሚንከባከቡ፣ ኮሮና ቫይረስ (ኮቪድ-19)ን ለመከላከል እና በአጠቃላይ የዕለት ተዕለት አስፈላጊ የጤና ፍላጎቶችን የሚያሟሉ ናቸው፡፡ ይህንን ጉልህ ሚና በመገንዘብ የዓለም ጤና ድርጅት የ2020 ዓመትን “የሚድዋይፍ እና የነርስ ዓመት” በማለት አውጆታል፡፡ በመሆኑም በአሉን የጤና ሚኒስቴር፤ የኢትዮጵያ ነርሶች ማህበር እና የኢትዮጵያ ሚድዋይፎች ማህበር ከተባበሩት መንግስታት የስነ ህዝብ ፈንድ ጋር በመሆን በብሔራዊ ደረጃ በጋራ ተከብሯል፡፡

የኢትዮጵያ ሚድዋይፎች ማህበር የኮሮና ቫይረስ ወረርሽኝን ለመከላከል የሚያስችሉ የሕክምና መገልገያ ቁሳቁሶችን ለደቡብ ክልል ጤና ቢሮ እናቶች እና የህፃናት ጤና አግልግሎቶች ክፍል ድጋፍ አድርጓል ፡፡ ድጋፉ አነስተኛ ቢሆንም በጣም አስፈላጊ እና ሕይወት አድን ስራን ለመስራት የሚያግዝ እንደሆነ ነው የተገለጠው፡፡ በኮቪድ-19 ምክንያት የወሊድ፣ የቤተሰብ እቅድ እና የጨቅላ ሕፃናት ሌሎች የጤና አገልግሎት እንዳይስተጓጎሉ የጋራ ጥረት ማድረግ ይጠበቃል ብለዋል። ቁሳቁሶቹ የተሰጡት በተለይ ሚድዋይፎች በኮቪድ-19 ቫይረስ ለተጠረጠሩ ወይም በቫይረሱ የተያዙ ነፍሰጡር እናቶችን ተገቢውን እንክብካቤ በሚሠጡበት ጊዜ የሚለብሱት ነው:: ማክበር ይህን ድጋፍ ያደረገው በኢትዮጵያ ለ28ኛ ጊዜ የሚከበረውን አለም አቀፍ የሚድዋይፎችን ቀን ታሳቢ በማድረግ መሆኑን የማህበሩ ፕሬዚደንት አቶ ዘነበ አካለ ገልጸዋል::

Ethiopian Midwives Association Dire Dawa Chapter celebrated the 28^th International Day of the Midwife. Most of mother’s in Ethiopia are dying due to bleeding after child birth.  At this time the number of blood donations has been dramatically reduced due to COVID-19 pandemic. Blood donation is an essential health service, even during the coronavirus pandemic. To contribute its professional part, Dire Dawa chapter with its members has donated 34 units of blood to save lives of the mothers.

Dereje Duguma (MD) (centre), state minister for Health, and Bettina Maas (second from the left), country representative of the United Nations Population Fund, held a press conference on the role of midwives combating the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on May 7, 2020. Taking place two days after the International Day of the Midwife, Dereje acknowledged the role played by midwives in providing information and contraceptive counselling as well as continuing to give service in maternity wards while calling attention to the shortage of personal protective equipment when they operate on the front lines.

https://addisfortune.news/?s=midwives

የኢትዮጵያ ሚድዋይፎች ማኅበር የኮሮና ቫይረስን ለመከላከል የሚያግዝ ግምታቸው 400 ሺህ ብር የሆኑ የሕክምና ቁሳቁሶችን ለአማራ ክልል ጤና ቢሮ ድጋፍ አደረገ። ማኅበሩ ድጋፉን ያደረገው 28ኛው ዓለም አቀፍ የሚድዋይፎች ቀን ምክንያት በማድረግ መሆኑን በርክክቡ ወቅት የማኅበሩ ፕሮግራም አስተባባሪ አቶ መላኩ ታምር ገልጸዋል። ከድጋፉ መካከል 330 ባለአንድ ሊትር ሳኒታይዘር፣ 551 የአፍና አፍንጫ መሸፈኛ ጭምብሎች፣ 53 ለሕክምና ባለሙያዎች የሚያገለግሉ አልባሳት ይገኙበታል። ቁሳቁሶቹ በሽታውን በመከላከል ላይ የሚገኙ የጤና ባለሙያዎች ራሳቸውን ከቫይረሱ በመጠበቅ ሙያዊ አገልግሎት እንዲሰጡ የሚያግዛቸው መሆኑን አስረድተዋል።

“ማኅበሩ ድጋፍ ማድረጉ ሊያስመሰግነው ይገባል” ያሉት ደግሞ በክልሉ ጤና ቢሮ የጤና ማበልጸግና በሽታ መከላከል ዳይሬክተር አቶ መልሰው ጫንያለው ናቸው። ቁሳቁሶቹም ለባሕርዳር ፈለገ ሕይወትና የባሕርዳር ዩኒቨርሲቲ ጥበበ ግዮን ስፔሻላይዝድን ጨምሮ ለስድስት ሆስፒታሎች እንደሚሰራጩ አስታውቀዋል። የኢትዮጵያ ሚድዋይፎች ማኅበር የአማራ ቅርንጫፍ ጽሕፈት ቤት ፕሬዚደንት አቶ መሳፍንት ዕውነቱ በበኩላቸው የኮሮና ቫይረስ እያደረሰ ያለውን ችግር በማቃለል የወገናቸውን ሕይወት ለመታደግ የማኅበሩ አባላት ሕይወታቸውን ሰጠው ሙያዊ ግዴታቸውን በመወጣት ላይ እንደሚገኙ ገልጸዋል።

“ሚድዋይፎች ከእናቶች ጎን ነን” በሚል መሪ ሀሳብ 28ኛው ዓለም አቀፍ የሚድዋይፎች ቀንም በክልል ደረጃ ዛሬ ታስቦ ውሏል። ማኅበሩ በሀገር አቀፍ ደረጃ አንድ ሚሊዮን 600ሺህ ብር ግምት ያላቸው የሕክምና ቁሳቁሶችን ድጋፍ ማድረጉም ተመልክቷል።

https://www.facebook.com/AmharaMassMediaAgencyAMMA/posts/1257369814438010

የኢትዮጵያ ሚድዋይፎች ማህበር የኮሮና ቫይረስ ወረርሽኝን ለመከላከል የሚያስችሉ የሕክምና መገልገያ ቁሳቁሶችን በሶማሊ ክልል ለሚገኙ አምስት የጤና ተቋማት  ድጋፍ አድርጓል፡፡ ማኅበሩ ድጋፉን ያደረገው 28ኛው ዓለም አቀፍ የሚድዋይፎች ቀን ምክንያት በማድረግ መሆኑን የገለጹት የማኅበሩ ክትትል፤ ምዘና እና የምርምር ክፍል ኃላፊው አቶ በለጠ በልጉ ናቸው፡፡ ከድጋፉ መካከል 160 ባለአንድ ሊትር ሳኒታይዘር፣ 295 የአፍና አፍንጫ መሸፈኛ ጭምብሎች፣ 24 ለሕክምና ባለሙያዎች የሚያገለግሉ ሙሉ አልባሳት ይገኙበታል። 

የኢትዮጵያ ሚድዋይፎች ማህበር ግምታቸው 45000 ብር የሆኑ አምስት የውሃ ማጣሪያዎችን ለጋንዲ መታሰቢያ ሆስፒታል በስጦታ አበርክቷል፡፡  የውሃ ማጣወሪያዎቹ ውሃን ከማጣራት በተጨማሪ  ሙቅ እና ቀዝቃዛ ውሃ መልቀቅ የሚችሉ  ናቸው፡፡ ማህበሩ ድጋፉን ያደረገው ዳኖን ኑትሪሺያ (DANONE NUTRICIA) ከተባለ የህፃናት ምግብ  አምራች ድርጅት ባገኘው የገንዘብ ድጋፍ ነው፡፡

የጤና ሚኒስትሯ ዶ/ር ሊያ ታደሰ ከኢትዮጵያ ሐኪሞች ማህበር ኘሬዘዳንት ዶ/ር ተግባር ይግዛው እና ከኢትዮጵያ ነርሶች ማህበር ኘሬዘዳንት አቶ ታፈሰ በቀለ ጋር በጋራ በመሆን ነገ ቅዳሜ ( 29/9/12 ዓ.ም) በኢትዮጵያ ሰዓት አቆጣጠር ከ10:00 -11:00 በጤና ሚኒስቴር የፌስቡክ ቀጥታ ስርጭት (MOH facebook live streaming) COVID-19 መከለከልና መቆጣጠር ዙሪያ እየተሰራ ያለውን ስራና ዝግጁነት አስመልክቶ ማብራሪያ እንዲሁም ከጤና ባለሙያዎች ለሚነሱ ዋና ዋና ጉዳዮች ላይ ምላሽ ይሰጣሉ። ስለሆነም ሁላችሁም ከላይ በተገለጸው መሰረት እንድትሳተፉ ተጋብዛችኋል።

https://www.facebook.com/EthiopiaFMoH/photos/a.246374842199993/154010321...

EMwA is a professional Association of Ethiopian Midwives having more than 28 years of professional experience. Its Mission is to promote and enhance the expansion, performance and status of the midwifery profession by developing evidence-based practices; promote and adhere to the midwifery code of ethics; empower professionals to reduce maternal, newborn and child morbidity and mortality; and improve youth sexual & reproductive health in Ethiopia. Moreover, EMwA has four strategic Directions:  Advocacy and Representation; Capacity Building, Partnership & Resource Mobilization- and Research, Monitoring & Evaluation operated in Eleven/11 /Chapter Offices across the country.

FGAE established in 1966, is also one of the leading organizations providing sexual and reproductive health services in Ethiopia.  Its Mission is to deliver comprehensive, integrated, quality and gender-sensitive SRH programs and services focusing on youth, underserved & vulnerable population. FGAE runs a strong program focusing on strategic direction: Build Enabling Environment (Advocacy) for SRHR; empower Young People to make informed choices; provide laity, integrated and comprehensive SRH Services though own(46)Clinics(model clinics, general SRH clinics, Sex workers clinics, multi-service youth centers) and  enabling other Service outlets(384-FHNCs); Ensure Sustainability/Resource mobilization, maintain Credibility through evidence based decision making/M&E, Research and Knowledge Management; operating in different parts of Ethiopia.

Thus, the purpose of  Memorandum of Understanding/MOU/ Teaming Agreement/ is  with the intention of  setting  out the shared and individual commitment to  which EMwA and FGAE will agree to jointly carry out for partnership, collaboration and  cooperation and  Technical Assistant in Capacity Building, Advocacy, Joint Resource Mobilization and Partnership in project Implementation and Research and sharing of  human resources with special expertise on specific areas of interventions that demand  so that both Associations enhance their capacity/leverage resources, and exchange their rich experience in innovative best practice and create a learning forum in FP/SRH/MNCH ,etc; health services and program which both party represent respectively.

OBJECTIVES OF MOU/TEAMING

• To jointly carry out for partnership, collaboration and cooperation in areas of Advocacy, Joint Resource Mobilization and Partnership, Project Implementation and Research and leverage competency and resources;
• Enhance a center of excellence of both Associations for quality service delivery, research and capacity building trainings to ensure self-sustainability;
• Foster horizontal MA to MA learning between EMwA and FGAE through human capacity development, Technical Assistance, collaboration among the two Associations;

The Ministry of Health reviewed the study report from the UK about Dexamethasone use for COVID-19 patients. Following a recommendation from our clinical advisory group and Health professionals National advisory council, the FMoH recommends the emergency use of low dose Dexamethasone for COVID-19 patients who require oxygen and/or mechanical ventilation for treatment. The details of this treatment protocol will be made available soon.

ለኮቪድ-19 ህሙማን የሚውለውን ዴክሳሜታዞን የተባለውን መድሀኒት በተመለከተ በእንግሊዝ መንግስት የተካሄደውን ጥናት እና ሪፖርት በዝርዝር ተመልክተነዋል፡፡ የህክምና ጉዳዮች አማካሪ ቡድናችን እና የጤና ባለሙያዎች አማካሪ ምክር ቤት፣ የሰጠንን ምክረ ሀሳብ መሰረት በማድረግ፣ ኦክሲጅን ወይም የመተንፈሻ መሳሪያ እገዛ ለሚያስፈልጋቸው የኮቪድ-19 ህሙማን የህክምና ባለሙያዎች በሚያዙት መሰረት ዴክሳሜታዞን እንደ ድንገተኛ ህክምና ለመጠቀም ተወስኗል ። ህክምናውን አስመልክቶ ዝርዝር መመሪያ በቅርቡ ይወጣል።

https://www.facebook.com/EthiopiaFMoH/posts/1552105414960256

WHO welcomes preliminary results about dexamethasone use in treating critically ill COVID-19 patients

The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes the initial clinical trial results from the United Kingdom (UK) that show dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, can be lifesaving for patients who are critically ill with COVID-19. For patients on ventilators, the treatment was shown to reduce mortality by about one third, and for patients requiring only oxygen, mortality was cut by about one fifth, according to preliminary findings shared with WHO.

The benefit was only seen in patients seriously ill with COVID-19, and was not observed in patients with milder disease. 

“This is the first treatment to be shown to reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19 requiring oxygen or ventilator support,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “This is great news and I congratulate the Government of the UK, the University of Oxford, and the many hospitals and patients in the UK who have contributed to this lifesaving scientific breakthrough.”

Dexamethasone is a steroid that has been used since the 1960s to reduce inflammation in a range of conditions, including inflammatory disorders and certain cancers. It has been listed on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines since 1977 in multiple formulations, and is currently off-patent and affordably available in most countries.

The researchers shared initial insights about the results of the trial with WHO, and we are looking forward to the full data analysis in the coming days. WHO will coordinate a meta-analysis to increase our overall understanding of this intervention. WHO clinical guidance will be updated to reflect how and when the drug should be used in COVID-19.

Today’s news builds off the WHO Research & Development Blueprint meeting, which took place in Geneva in mid-February to accelerate health technologies for COVID-19, where further research into the use of steroids was highlighted as a priority. The findings reinforce the importance of large randomized control trials that produce actionable evidence. WHO will continue to work together with all partners to further develop lifesaving therapeutics and vaccines to tackle COVID-19 including under the umbrella of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator. 

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/16-06-2020-who-welcomes-preliminary...

Ethiopian Midwives Association (EMwA) has four strategic directions that guides the strategic plan execution namely; Capacity building; Advocacy and Representation; Partnership and Networking; Research and Publication. As part of its strategic directions, EMwA has conducted a research entitled with “The State of Ethiopian Midwives 2019” which assess the distribution, Satisfaction and Intension of Midwives to stay in their profession, and also explore the challenges related to midwifery practice.

The association made virtual validation of the State of the Ethiopian Midwives 2019 Research with the presence of key partners and stakeholders like: MOH, Regional Health Bureaus, International Confederation of Midwives, Laerdal Global Health, USAID Transform: Primary Health Care, UNFPA, UNICEF and Maternity Foundation, EMwA chapter offices and also Midwives researchers. The result will be very helpful to provide an evidence to support policy dialogue at national and regional levels, to strengthen the health workforce, and to create suitable strategies for overcoming the problems. The Final report will be disseminated through Soft coppy and Hard copy as the soonest possible.