08 February 2010
Four times a month, recent school leaver Ajebush Wakalto sets off on a two-hour trek from her village in southern Ethiopia. Her destination is the nearest health centre, where her mission is to pick up as many vaccines as she can carry back home.
In developing countries, living in rural areas often means missing out on medical services. Ajebush is one of 30,000 young people helping to bring healthcare to parts of Ethiopia in which there is limited access to hospitals and clinics.
Trained by a scheme supported by the DFID-backed organisation the GAVI Alliance, Ajebush provides injections to local mothers and babies. They are immunised against potentially fatal diseases such as diptheria, whooping cough, tetanus and Hepatitis B.
Meseret Teshome, a mother of five, is one of Ajebush’s most enthusiastic clients. “I meet (Ajebush) regularly and gain all sorts of health services from her - advice on nutrition and personal hygiene, as well as vaccines,” says Meseret.
“Now my children have less diarrhoea and don’t cough so much,” she says. “We can spend the little money we have on food and clothes rather than medical bills.”
It is estimated that, in the five years since the start of the scheme that trained Ajebush, the number of health facilities in Ethiopia offering immunisations has shot up from 69% to 81%. Some 15,000 of Ethiopia’s rural communities now have health workers like Ajebush on hand to provide preventive services. In a country in which 81% of people live in poverty and life expectancy is a mere 53 years, the work of Ajebush and her colleagues in building an all-round healthier environment is vital.
Facts and stats
- The GAVI Alliance is an international partnership between the public and private sectors aimed at increasing access to immunisations in developing countries.
- The Ethiopian government’s Health Extension Programme is partly financed by a GAVI fund for strengthening health systems.
- As one of GAVI’s donors since 2000, DFID has supported its programmes with over £1.5 billion.
- GAVI has approved a further US$400 million for immunisation and strengthening health systems in Ethiopia.