Health in Ethiopia - Medical Services

Medical Services

In addition to the construction and expansion of health facilities, the FMOH focused on strengthening the management capacity of health facilities during HSDP III period to ensure the delivery of effective, efficient and quality medical services. The Ethiopian Hospital Reform Implementation Guidelines that provide guidance for managers to improve hospital management in areas such as nursing care, facilities and equipment management, human resource management, infection prevention and quality management, among others was launched and similar Guidelines are also being developed for Health Centers as well.

An assessment done in 47 selected hospitals on their performance for the year EFY 2001 showed 50.8% bed occupancy rate (BOR), 27.8% patients per bed per year as bed turn-over rate (BTR), and 6.7 days of average length of stay (ALOS). The same revealed that average cost per patient–day equivalent (PDE) of 196 ETB .

With respect to per capita attendance rate, it is difficult to measure progress due to erratic implementation of the new HMIS in regions. Yet an increasing number of indigenous and international NGOs are currently involved in various aspects of service delivery, and there are currently 277 private clinics not for profit and 1,788 private clinics for profit in the country. The total number of hospital beds is 13,922, which mean that there is one bed for a population of about 5,300. This figure is about five times lower than the sub-Saharan African average.