News

First published in The Daily Monitor, this news article discusses the gains made by Pathfinder's Integrated Family Health Program in Ethiopia and the pivotal role the project plays in achieving Millennium Development Goals.

The Technical Advisory Committee of the Integrated Family Health Program (IFHP) commended the gains achieved by the program in the North Gondar Zone of the Amahara Regional State. It also said that IFHP assumes pivotal role in achieving Millennium Development Goals of reducing child mortality rates and improving maternal health.

In light of her own illness, a British mom traveling with ONE reflects on barriers to health care in Ethiopia and how a Pathfinder-organized health center is making a difference for thousands.

The health posts and this health center—funded by USAID and through a program with Pathfinder International and the Ethiopian Ministry of Health—make the difference to thousands of Ethiopians.

Pathfinder International is pleased to join the Girl Effect Global Giving Challenge. Pathfinder was selected as one of 70 organizations to compete to win the opportunity to be featured on the Girl Effect fundraising page on Global Giving.

Blogger Asha Dornfest visits USAID-supported and Pathfinder-led IFHP project in rural Ethiopia as part of #ONEMoms.

These health posts — the one we visited was a shack stocked with a desk and basic medical supplies — are staffed by trained health extension workers. Health extension workers are local community members who have received training in basic medical procedures, and act almost like family doctors. They immunize children. They provide advice on nutrition and sanitation and family planning. They provide treatment for malaria and diarrhea. Often, they’re the only health care available to a community of 5000 or more people.

The success in the growth of contraceptive use in Ethiopia is an important story to be told and indicates the importance of government ownership in improving reproductive health.

"Government ownership is critical [for improving reproductive health]," says Dan Pellegrom, President of Pathfinder International, which has worked in the country since 1964." And Ethiopia's government took ownership." That ownership took the form of renewed commitment to women and girls, and creative collaborations with aid agencies to make long-acting contraceptive methods in particular more available. (Injectable contraceptives are by far the most popular method countrywide).

Thanks to its government, donor resources, local civil society organizations, the private sector, and international nonprofits, Ethiopia has experienced a great change in contraceptive prevalence rate.

After hearing news of a story in Ethiopia, Cara Hesse proves that a small effort can produce results.

The chain of events began in March, 2001, when a 13-year-old girl named Woinshet Zebene was abducted from her Ethiopian village and raped for two days. After she escaped, bloodied and bruised, the suspect was arrested and then released on bail. That same week, the man abducted Woinshet again, hiding the girl in his brother's house and raping her for 15 days before she escaped and sought refuge with her grandmother.

The connection between population growth and family planning is as evident as ever, making family planning initiatives like the one in Ethiopia especially important.

But in our relentless focus on protecting abortion access in the USA, we are all prone to forget that reproductive justice is a global issue. And while many agencies do great work abroad in promoting family planning and women's health, I want to give a special shoutout this Monday to Pathfinder International.

Cervical cancer rates are high in Ethiopia, where new methods are being used to screen for cancer.

During a recent visit to the East African nation, [Paul Blumenthal, MD, MPH] learned from a colleague that 60 percent of all referrals to Ethiopia's only cancer center were women with cervical cancer.

Gynecologist Paul Blumenthal is helping to build a program in Ethiopia to improve screening of cervical cancer.

"Our objective is to prevent cervical cancer from ever occurring by doing this simple screening, uncovering pre-cancers that could develop into cancers," Blumenthal said. "We're really hoping to make a difference for the women of Ethiopia."