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Abdulaziz Dino Gidreta
health care units for the provision of healthcare to the rural grassroots community in
Ethiopia, while health centers can be taken as common multipurpose clinics. The federal
government reports that the number of health posts and health centers raised to 14,416
and 1,787, respectively, while the number of public hospitals increased to 111. And, over
33,000 HEWs were trained and deployed in the rural areas (FDRE, GTP, 2010). Moreover,
the UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) has improved to 0.166 in 1991, 0.274 in 2000,
0.313 in 2005, 0.352 in 2009 and 0.363 in 2011 (UNDP, HDR 2011, in EPA, 2012: 26).
The reports claim that the percent of women aged 15-49 who received antenatal services
has increased from 17 to 34 percent during 2000-2011. Infant mortality also declined
from 97 deaths in 2000 to 59 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2011. Similarly, under-five
mortality decreased from 166 deaths in 2000 to 88 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2011
(EPA, 2012:10). However, once again, one can directly object these common quantitative
reports as non-explanatory and non-representative to the actual situation on ground.
In case of the three neighborhoods under study, there are progresses in ‘establishing’ the
aforementioned health posts. Nevertheless, these supposedly village health posts do not
meet even the minimum required number of trained experts, and they are quite far from
minimum follow ups.
The government has provided several medical resources. Nevertheless, the center
room is now almost ruined. There are only two health practitioners for the entire
neighborhoods, and they could not find a suitable home to stay in the nearby. So,
they cannot serve delivery cases unless it is a highest-level emergency case. Most-
ly, what the health practitioners provide for free is only vaccination (HOARCM31).
The health posts seem failed mainly due to lack of practitioners, medical facilities, and
sustainable financing. Only two practitioners are employed in each center with insignif-
icant level of training. Their number is quite far from the total number of population in
the kebeles (in 2011 the population of Dobba kebele was reported to be 4700, females
making 2600 and males 2100). And the posts have supposed to be double-room but they
stand almost with ruined walls and roofs. Although a single metal delivery-bed is availa-
ble inside, apart from condoms and trapping nets (agobers), one cannot find any helpful
medicine including some emergency painkillers. And employed practitioners have no in-
centives when they have to work during evenings and nights, while weekends become
their self-declared working days for no extra payments again. The post’s compound is
completely far from a fine level unless we consider again the natural favors in term of fresh
air for instance. The rooms are surrounded by long grasses and woods, almost becoming
homes of various insects. Again, the rooms are not protected from outside thefts and at-
tacks, as there is no any person as protector. Due to all these reasons, the claimed health
posts could not even properly deliver prevention and first-aid services that they had been
mainly intended for.
