Home > News > Latest news > Oromia Region Gets Large Boost in Skilled Health Workers

The Oromia Regional Health Bureau in Ethiopia has received a huge boost following the recent graduation of 795 Health Extension Workers (HEWs) after a one-year upgrading course. The training, to upgrade HEWs from Level III to Level IV, was carried out with support from AMREF and Federal Ministry of Health at five Health Science Colleges: Fiche, Nekemt, Metu, Negele and Shashemene. The students attended theoretical and practical sessions in various health centres.

The national Health Extension Worker Programme was introduced in 2002/03 on the basis that with the right health knowledge and skills, households can take responsibility for their own health. More than 34,280 HEWs were trained and deployed in 15,095 health posts across the country.

Following a national assessment conducted by AMREF and the Federal Ministry of Health in 2008, it was found necessary to upgrade the competency of these community health workers and help the country to move towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals. In 2009, AMREF and the Open University began working on a curriculum and learning materials for Level IV Health Extension Workers Upgrading Programme.

The graduation ceremony was held at Gelma Aba Geda Hall in Adama. With their improved skills and knowledge, the graduates will go a long way in elevating health at community level in the  heavily populated region. Based on 2011 figures from the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, the Oromia Region has an estimated population of 29,737,371 who are served by 42 hospitals, 825 health centres and 5,930 health posts.

One of the graduands, 23-year-old Tsehay Hailu from Agere woreda in West Shewa zone, expressed her joy at completing the course, which she said had greatly increased her knowledge and skills.

Tsehay Hailu, Health Extension Worker

“The upgrading to Level IV has given me a lot of knowledge on prevention of disease, treatment and referral linkages. This is especially important because of high maternal and child morbidity and mortality rates in Ethiopia in general, and in my Oromia region in particular.

After this training, I am confident that I will be able to make a difference in my community. For instance, I can now identify and treat children under five who have pneumonia, malaria and tuberculosis. If there is no depo provera at the health post or pills for family planning, I can insert Implanol or advise clients on inter-uterine devices. I also know how to manage HIV-positive pregnant women to protect their babies from infection. I am able to identify severe cases and to make referrals. I also gained extra knowledge in areas like environmental health and sanitation, such as management of solid and liquid waste.

The training included many demonstration and practical sessions, which gave me a lot of confidence and greatly motivated me to do my work. My priorities will now be on disease prevention and community education, including creating awareness of services provided at the health post and encouraging people to use them.

I am grateful to AMREF for sponsoring me and my fellow students  for this  indepth training. Most of us are poor and we have families to support, so we would not have been able to afford the training on our own. I hope AMREF will also be able to provide more refresher training for us.”