ብዙዎችን ያሠጋው አተት

ረቡዕ ነሐሴ 4 ቀን 2008 ዓ.ም. ከጠዋቱ 3፡30 ሆኗል፡፡ በዘውዲቱ መታሰቢያ ሆስፒታል በሚገኘው የአጣዳፊ ተቅማጥና ትውከት (አተት) ሕሙማን መታከሚያ ልዩ ክፍል፣ አንድ ታዳጊ ሕፃንን ጨምሮ ስምንት ሕሙማን ተኝተው ይታከማሉ፡፡ ለአተት ሕሙማን ብቻ ተብሎ በተሰናዳው ክፍልም፣ ከሕክምና ባለሙያዎች በስተቀር አስታማሚም ሆነ ሌሎች ሰዎች መግባት አይችሉም፡፡ ምግብም ከሆስፒታሉ ይቀርባል፡፡ ቤተሰብ የሚያመጣው ካለም፣ ምግቡ በሆስፒታሉ ዕቃ እየተገለበጠ፣ አምጪው ከደጅ እንዲመለስ ይደረጋል፡፡  

በሦስት ወደተከፈለው ሕሙማኑ ክፍል ለመግባትም፣ የሕክምና ባለሙያዎቹን ጨምሮ ለመግባት የተፈቀደለት ማንኛውም አካል፣ መጫሚያው በፀረ ባክቴሪያ ተረጭቶ፣ እጁን በኬሚካል በታከመ ውኃ ታጥቦ የሚገባ ሲሆን፣ ከክፍሉ ሲወጣም ይህንኑ ድርጊት ደግሞ ይሰናበታል፡፡ ሕሙማኑ ደግሞ እንደየማገገም አቅማቸው በሕክምና ክፍሉ ለቀናት ያህል የሚቆዩ ሲሆን፣ ድነዋል ተብለው ሲወጡም፣ የለበሱት ልብስ እዚያው ይቀራል፡፡ ገላቸውን ታጥበውና ቤተሰብ የሚያቀርብላቸውን ሌላ ልብስ ለብሰው ይሰናበታሉ፡፡ ከመሰናበታቸው አስቀድሞ ግን፣ ለእነሱም ሆነ ለቤተሰብ አባላት ትምህርትና ምክር ይሰጣል፡፡ ምክንያቱ ደግሞ የታመመው ሰው ከሕመሙ ድኖ ከሆስፒታል ቢወጣም፣ የቤተሰቡ አባላት የግልና የአካባቢ ንፅህናቸውን ካልጠበቁ ባክቴርያው የመተላለፍ ዕድል ስላለው ነው፡፡

በሆስፒታሉ የድንገተኛ ሕመም ስፔሻሊስትና የአተት ሕሙማን ክፍል አስተባባሪ ሲስተር ስንዱ ኃይሉ እንደሚሉት፣ ክፍሉ 30 ሕሙማንን የሚይዝ ሲሆን፣ ለክፍሉም 20 ነርሶችና ሁለት ሐኪሞች ተመድበዋል፡፡ ኤምኤስኤፍ ከተባለው ግብረሰናይ ድርጅት ደግሞ፣ ስድስት ተጨማሪ ነርሶች ያገለግላሉ፡፡ ድርጅቱም የቁሳቁስና የምክር አገልግሎት ይሰጣል፡፡

የአተት ሕሙማን በጤና ጣቢያዎችም ሆነ በሆስፒታሎች ከቤተሰብና አስታማሚ ንክኪ ርቀው በሕክምና ባለሙያዎች ብቻ እየተረዱ ከሕመማቸው እንዲድኑና ከሰውነታቸው የሚወጣው ፈሳሽም በአግባቡ እንዲወገድ፣ ምግባቸውም ሆነ የግል ንፅህናቸው እንዲጠበቅ ቢደረግም፣ ከሕክምና ተቋማት ከወጡ በኋላ የሕክምና ተቋሙን ያህል ጥንቃቄ በተሞላበት መንገድ ይቆያሉ ወይ? ሌላው የኅብረተሰብ ክፍልስ የግልና የአካባቢ ንፅህ አጠባበቁ የሠለጠነ ነው ወይ? በከተማዋ ሁሉን ኅብረተሰብ በፍትሐዊ መንገድ የግልና የአካባቢ ንፅህናውን እንዲጠብቅ የሚያስችሉ መሠረተ ልማቶች ተሟልተዋል ወይ? የአትክልትና ፍራፍሬ እንዲሁም ጥሬና የበሰሉ ምግቦች በቤትም ሆነ በሽያጭ በሚቀርቡባቸው ስፍራዎች ደህንነታቸውና ንፅህናቸው የተጠበቀ ነው ወይ? የሚሉት ጉዳዮች አነጋጋሪና እክል ያለባቸው ናቸው፡፡

ሮታቫይረስ በተባለው ባክቴርያ አማካይነት የሚከሰተው አተትም መንስኤው የግልና አካባቢ ንፅህና መጓደልና የምግብ አዘገጃጀት ጥንቃቄ የጐለው መሆን ነው፡፡ በዚህም ምክንያት በአዲስ አበባ ከሰኔ 1 ቀን 2008 ዓ.ም. ጀምሮ የተከሰተው አተት፣ ከዚህ ቀደም በአዲስ አበባ፣ በአዲስ አበባ ዙሪያና በአንዳንድ የአገሪቱ አካባቢዎች ተከስቶ እንደነበረው በአጭር ጊዜ በቁጥጥር ሥር መዋል አልቻለም፡፡ በከተማዋ የጤና እክል መሆን ከጀመረም ሁለት ወራት አልፈዋል፡፡

የአዲስ አበባ ጤና ቢሮ የኮሚዩኒኬሽንስ ጉዳዮች ደጋፊ የሥራ ሒደት መሪ አቶ ሙሉጌታ አድማሱ እንደሚሉት፣ ሕሙማኑን ለመርዳት በአዲስ አበባ ከሚገኙት 98 ጤና ጣቢያዎች በ29ኙ ልዩ ጣቢያ ተቋቁሟል፡፡ በዘጠኝ ሆስፒታሎች ደግሞ ከአተት በተጨማሪ ተጓዳኝ በሽታ ያለባቸው በሪፈር (በቅብብሎሽ) በመሄድ እየታከሙ ይገኛሉ፡፡ ከ29ኙ ጤና ጣቢያዎች በተጨማሪም፣ በሁሉም ጤና ተቋማት ሕሙማን ከመጡ የመጀመሪያ ዕርዳታ የሚያገኙ ሲሆን፣ ወዲያውም ወደ ልዩ ጣቢያዎቹና ወደ ሪፈራል ሆስፒታሎች ይላካሉ፡፡

በሪፈራል የአተት ሕሙማንን ከሚያስተናግዱ ሆስፒታሎች አንዱ የሆነው የዘውዲቱ መታሰቢያ ሆስፒታል ሜዲካል ዳይሬክተር ዶክተር የኔዓለም አየለ፣ በከተማዋ የወንዝ ውኃ የሚጠቀሙ ማኅበረሰቦች ላይ በሽታው መብዛቱን ይናገራሉ፡፡ የጐዳና ተዳዳሪዎችና በዝቅተኛ ደረጃ የሚኖሩ የማኅበረሰብ ክፍሎች እንዲሁም የጉልበት ሠራተኞች ከሚመጡት ሕሙማን የበለጠውን ድርሻ ይይዛሉ፡፡

ታክመው የወጡ ሰዎች ድጋሚ የሚመጡበትና ቤተሰቦቻቸውም የሚታመሙበት አጋጣሚም አለ፡፡ ይህም በባክቴርያው የተበከለ ሰገራ ከእጅ ወይም ከምግብ ተነካክቶ ወደ አፍ መግባቱንና የንፅህና አጠባበቅ መጓደሉን ያሳያል፡፡

በአተት የታመሙ ሰዎች ከየሕክምና ተቋማቱ ታክመው ቢወጡም፣ እስከ ሰባት ቀን በሽታውን ሊያስተላልፉ ይችላሉ፡፡ በመሆኑም የንፅህና ጉድለት ካለ በሽታውን መግታት አይቻልም፡፡ አቶ ሙሉጌታ እንደገለጹት፣ አንድ ሰው በአተት ተይዞ እስከ ሦስት ወር ድረስ የበሽታው ምልክት ላይታይበት ይችላል፡፡ ሆኖም በእነዚህ ጊዜያት በሽታውን ያስተላልፋል፡፡ በአተት ከሚያዙ 100 ሰዎችም 20 በመቶ ያህሉ ናቸው ምልክት አሳይተው ወደ ሕክምና የሚመጡት፡፡ በመሆኑም በሽታውን ለመከላከል ቁልፉ መፍትሔ ንፅህናን መጠበቅ ነው፡፡

በሆስፒታሉ ደረጃ መጀመሪያ ላይ የነበረው የሕሙማን ቁጥር ከፍተኛ ቢሆንም፣ አሁን ላይ እየቀነሰ መሆኑን ዶክተር የኔዓለም ይናገራሉ፡፡ ሆኖም የሕክምና ባለሙያዎች ብቻቸውን ተቆጣጥረው ሊቀንሱት ብሎም ሊገቱት አይችሉም፡፡ ኅብረተሰቡ ከእጅ መታጠብ አንስቶ ወደ አፉ ለሚገባው ምግብ ጥንቃቄ ማድረግ፣ የራሱንና የአካባቢ ንፅህናውን መጠበቅ አለበት፡፡

ዶክተር የኔዓለም እንደሚሉት፣ በአሁኑ ሰዓት በሽታውን በብዛት እያስተላለፉ የሚገኙት ሕገወጥ የጐዳና ላይ እርዶች ናቸው፡፡ ወቅቱ ዝናባማ በመሆኑም፣ ለልማት ተብለው በፈረሱ አካባቢዎች መፀዳጃ ቤቶች በአግባቡ ባለመደፈናቸው በጐርፍ እየታጠቡ አካባቢዎችን ይበክላሉ፡፡ ሕገወጥ እርዶችም በአብዛኛው የጐርፍ ውኃ በሚወርድባቸው እንዲሁም በመፀዳጃ ቤቶች ውስጥ ጭምር ስለሚከናወኑ፣ አተትን ለማስፋፋት የጐላ ሚና አላቸው፡፡ ሰው ይህንን ተገንዝቦም ጥንቃቄ ማድረግ አለበት፡፡

አተት በአብዛኛው የሚከሰተው በድርቅ በተጐዱ፣ በድህነትና በጦርነት ውስጥ በሚገኙ አካባቢዎች ነው፡፡ ጐርፍና የአየር መዛባትም በሽታውን ያስፋፉታል፡፡ አሁን ላይ ደግሞ አዲስ አበባ ከተማ ውስጥ ተከስቷል፡፡ ይህንን አስመልክቶ ዶክተር የኔዓለም እንደገለጹት፣ አተት በዋናነት በንፅህና ጉድለት የሚነሳ ነው፡፡ በአገሪቷ ድርቅ ነበር፣ አተት ከመከሰቱ ጥቂት ቀናት ቀድሞ አዲስ አበባ ላይ ጐርፍ ተከስቷል፡፡ ድርቅ ኖሮ ጐርፍ የሚከሰት ከሆነም፣ የአተት ተዋህስያን የመሠራጨት ዕድላቸው ከፍተኛ ነው፡፡ ከዚህ በተጨማሪ ጐዳና ተዳዳሪዎች የአዲስ አበባ ጐዳናዎችን ቤት አድርገውታል፡፡ ጐዳና ላይ ቤተሰብ መሥርተው የሚኖሩም አሉ፡፡ መፀዳጃቸውም እዛው ነው፡፡ መንገድ ላይ የሚቀርቡ ምግቦችም ከጊዜ ወደ ጊዜ እየጨመሩ፣ ንፅህናቸውም እየተጓደለ ነው፡፡ ወደ ሆስፒታሉ የሚመጡትም ታሪካቸውን ሲጠየቁ፣ ከእንደዚህ ዓይነት ስፍራዎች የሚመገቡት ይበዛሉ፡፡

አተት ስላለ ብቻ ሳይሆን፣ ኅብረተሰቡ ንፅህናውን ከጠበቀና በንፅህና የተዘጋጀ ምግብ ከተመገበ፣ ከአተት በተጨማሪ ብዙ በንፅህና ጉድለት የሚመጡ በሽታዎችን ማምከን ይቻላል፡፡ ለዚህ ደግሞ መንግሥት የሚያናውነው እያንዳንዱ ሥራ የጤና ፖሊሲው ያስቀመጠውን በሽታን ቀድሞ የመከላከል አቋም ከግምት ያስገባ መሆን አለበት፡፡

የአተት በሽታን ቀድሞ ለመከላከል የተለያዩ ዓለም አቀፍ ድርጅቶች ለሠራተኞቻቸው መድሃኒት ይሰጣሉ፡፡ የሚሰጡት መድሃኒቶች አተትን በመከላከል ረገድ ያላቸውን ሚና  አስመልክተን ለዶክተር የኔዓለም ላነሳንላቸው ጥያቄ፣ አተትን ለመከላከል ከሆስፒታሉ ጋር የሚሠራው ኤምኤስኤፍም ክኒኑን እንደሚሰጥ፣ ሆኖም ክኒኑን የወሰደ ሰው በአተት ከተያዘ ሕመሙ እንዳይባባስበት ይረዳል እንጂ፣ ሙሉ ለሙሉ ከበሽታው እንደማይከላከል ነግረውናል፡፡ አንዳንድ አገሮች በተለይ የአተት አማጪን ተዋህስያን ለመከላከል ክትባት የጀመሩ ቢሆንም፣ የጐላ ጥቅም አላስገኘም፡፡ ሆኖም ለአተት የሚሰጠውን ዶክሲሳይክሊን በበሽታው ከመያዝ ቀድሞ እስከ 300 ሚሊ ግራም መውሰድ ይመከራል፡፡

አተት በዋናነት ከግልና አካባቢ ንፅህና ጉድለት የሚመጣ ነው፡፡ በአዲስ አበባ ደግሞ ለአተት የሚያጋልጡ አጋጣሚዎች አሉ፡፡ በመልሶ ማልማት የፈረሱ አካባቢዎች በወቅቱ ጥቅም ላይ አለመዋላቸውና በስፍራው የነበሩ መፀዳጃዎች በአግባቡ አለመደፈናቸው፣ የዝናብ ፍሳሽ ማስወገጃ ቱቦዎች ከመፀዳጃ ቤት ጋር የተያያዙበት አካባቢዎች መኖራቸው፣ ኅብረተሰቡም ዝናብን ተገን አድርጐ የመፀዳጃ ቤት ፍሳሽ በየጐዳናው መልቀቁ፣ በየጐዳናው ላይ ያለምንም ጥንቃቄ የበሰሉ ምግቦች የሚሸጡ መሆኑ፣ ኅብረተሰቡ እጁን ታጥቦ በመመገብ ላይ ያለው ልማድ አለመዳበሩ፣ በየጐዳናው መፀዳዳቱ በቀላሉ ኅብረተሰቡን ለአተት ከሚያጋልጡትና ሥርጭቱንም ከሚያስፋፉት ይጠቀሳሉ፡፡ እነዚህን ማስተካከል ካልተቻለ አተት ሁሌም ሥጋት ሆኖ ይቀጥላል፡፡

ምግብ የሚያቀርቡ ሆቴሎች፣ ሬስቶራንቶችና ካፌዎች፣ ልኳንዳዎች እንዲሁም በምግብና በመጠጥ ዘርፍ የተሰማሩ ኢንዱስትሪዎችም ከትርፋቸው ባሻገር ኃላፊነት የተሞላበትና የአገሪቱን የጤና ፖሊሲ የተከተለ አቅርቦት ከሌላቸው ማኅበረሰቡን ለችግሩ ያጋልጣሉ፡፡ የሕክምና ተቋማት ቢሆኑም እንዲሁ፡፡ አገሪቷ የጣለችባቸውን ኃላፊነት ዘንግተውና ኅብረተሰቡ ያሳደረባቸውን እምነት ሸርሽረው፣ ኅብረተሰቡን ለከፋ ጉዳት የሚዳርጉ በአገሪቷ ብሎም በከተማዋ ሲናኙ ይስተዋላሉ፡፡

ከአተት ጋር በተያያዘ ብቻ የአዲስ አበባ ከተማ አስተዳደር የምግብ፣ መድሃኒትና ጤና ክብካቤ አስተዳደርና ቁጥጥር ባለሥልጣን፣ አተት በከተማዋ ከተከሰተ ጀምሮ እስከ ሐምሌ 20 ቀን 2008 ዓ.ም. ብቻ በ37,130 የምግብና የመጠጥ አገልግሎት በሚሰጡ ሆቴል፣ ልኳንዳ፣ ጁስ ቤቶች እንዲሁም በግል ሕክምና ተቋማት ላይ ባደረገው ክትትል፣ ለአተት መስፋፋት መንስኤ የሆኑና የፅዳት ጉድለትና የሕክምና አገልግሎት ክፍተት በታየባቸው 5,414 ተቋማት ላይ ዕርምጃ ወስዷል፡፡

ዕርምጃ ከተወሰደባቸው መካከል 3,643 ሆቴል ቤቶችና 436 ልኳንዳ ቤቶች የማስጠንቀቂያና የገንዘብ ቅጣት፣ 412 የፍራፍሬና ጁስ ቤቶችና 27 የግል ጤና ተቋማት ማስጠንቀቂያ ደርሷቸዋል፡፡ ከዚህም ሌላ 704 ሆቴል ቤቶች፣ 96 ልኳንዳ ቤቶች፣ 84 የፍራፍሬና ጁስ ቤቶች እንዲሁም 12 የግል ሕክምና ተቋማት ታሽገዋል፡፡

የባለሥልጣኑ ሥራ አስኪያጅ አቶ ጌታቸው ወረቴ እንደገለጹት፣ በሆቴል ቤቶች ላይ ዕርምጃው ሊወሰድ የቻለው የምግብ አቅራቢዎች የንጽህና ጉድለት፣ የምግብ ማቅረቢያዎቹና ማብሰያዎች፣ እንዲሁም የምግብ ማብሰያና መፀዳጃ ቤቶች አያያዝና አጠባበቅ ለበሽታው መስፋፋት መንስኤ ሆነው በመገኘታቸው ነው፡፡ ልኳንዳ ቤቶቹም ለእሽግ የተዳረጉት የሠራተኞች የጤና ምርመራ አለማድረግ፣ ለሽያጭ ያዘጋጇቸው ሥጋዎች ሕጋዊ እውቅና ካለውና ንጽህናው በተጠበቀ መልኩ አገልግሎት ከሚሰጡ ቄራዎች የቀረቡ አለመሆናቸው በመረጋገጡና በአንዳንድ ልኳንዳ ቤቶች ውስጥም በአተት የታመሙ ሠራተኞች በመገኘታቸው ነው፡፡ በግል ሕክምና ተቋማት ላይም ቅጣቱ ሊጣልባቸው የቻለው፣ የአተት ሕሙማን ለሕክምና ሲሄዱ የመከልከል አዝማሚያ ስለታየባቸው ነው፡፡

አቶ ጌታቸው እንደሚሉት፣ ባለሥልጣን መሥሪያ ቤቱ በዓመት ሁለቴ የሚያደርገው የቁጥጥር ሥራ በቂ ስላልሆነ፣ ቁጥጥሩን ቀጣይ ለማድረግ ከደንብ ማስከበር ጽሕፈት ቤት፣ ከንግድ፣ ከባህልና ቱሪዝም ቢሮዎች ጋር በቅንጅት ለመሥራት የሚያስችለውን ስምምነት ተፈራርመዋል፡፡ የቁጥጥር ሥራውን የሚያከናውነውም፣ አተት ስለተከሰተ ሳይሆን በቋሚነት ይሆናል፡፡ የጤና ጉድለት ክስተቶች በልዩ ሁኔታ ሲከሰቱ ደግሞ የበለጠ ትኩረት የሚያደርግበት አሠራር ይኖረዋል፡፡ Read more here

Ethiopia suspends medicine import from 11 Egyptian manufacturers

The Ethiopian Health Ministry has suspended the importation of pharmaceuticals from 11 Egyptian manufacturers following a visit to Egypt that indicated the factories did not meet Ethiopian health standards.

A delegation from the Ethiopian Ministry inspected 13 companies and found that in 11 cases, prescribed rules were not being applied to the production of pharmaceuticals.

The result of the inspection has severe implications for Egyptian companies that rely on exports, said the head of Export Council for Medical Industries, Maged George. He indicated that most of the companies are not solely reliant on Ethiopian trade, exporting to 15 countries in total.  

A committee has been formed, including members of the export council and the companies affected by the decision, in order to collect data on the Ethiopian market, medicines that are in demand, and the manufacturers currently operating there, George said.

An urgent meeting will be held soon with the Ethiopian ambassador to Cairo to tackle the crisis and find solutions for the penalized companies.

The exports council, according to George, is mulling establishing a holding company to establish pharmaceuticals factories outside Egypt, or to place offices abroad to market the Egyptian pharmaceutical industry. Read more here

Why does Uhuru encourage miraa growing and use?

With the movement of members of these communities to Europe, the US and other parts of the globe, its consumption has extended to these areas. The medical profession in these countries became aware of some of the harms of the consumption of miraa and started a campaign to stop their import and consumption.
There has been considerable debate about the benefits and ill effects of miraa—mostly the latter. Even countries which have traditionally cultivated and chewed miraa have objected to its use.

Just as last month Kenya’s President was extolling the virtues of chewing miraa and promoting its production, export and consumption, the SomaliaPresident Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was quoted in the Star as planning its ban in his country—traditionally considered as the home of miraa.

Speaking in Mogadishu on Monday, Mohamud said the trade and consumption of the stimulant plant has a “devastating” impact on Somalis and must be banned. Somalia would not be the first country to ban miraa: they have been banned in Europe, the United Kingdom, and were this to happen in Somalia and Kenya, it would deal a heavy blow to the already struggling miraa trade in Kenya. That, as I explain later, is where President Kenyatta comes in, a bit later.
Kenyans have been debating the merits and demerits of miraa for many years. In 1996 there was a long debate in the National Assembly, which aired different perspectives, but mostly against the sale and consumption of miraa.

Mr. Khalif (Asst. Minister for Research, Technical Training and Technology) made a lengthy speech arguing that the sale and consumption of miraa should be banned.

Here are some extracts, “If this government really cares for its people, and I know it does, it should do everything to completely ban miraa…This is government of the people and it should do everything to ban miraa because it destroys our people.

We are talking from experience and we know that right now many students are out of school because of miraa, a lot of people have suffered because of miraa, standards of education in our province and many parts of the Coast have fallen foul because of miraa; our teachers are using miraa and the effect of using miraa is terribly harmful to the body of a person.

It erodes the teeth, it eats away walls of stomach; it causes fatigue. The chewer cannot work the following day and its disorganises the whole society. It kills the cultural values of the society so that there is no discipline.

Today if you go to where miraa is consumed you will find that discipline has completely gone, disappeared. Children are chewing miraa, mothers are chewing miraa, elders are chewing miraa, and there is no discipline in this kind of society….So the government is obliged to ban this thing.

Many political and religious leaders have agreed on this. Also many from the medical profession have accepted that miraa has tremendous harmful effect on the human body….Many [who chew miraa ] are reduced to charity, unable to earn a living’.
The debate in the Assembly concluded with the following resolution: “That in view the fact that miraa, also known asghat, is a drug widely used in Kenya and has a strong anti-social effect causing economy and medical harm to those consuming it, this House urges the Government to consider controlling the selling and consumption of miraa”. It seems no action was taken.
I do not have space to summarise the global discussion on the effects of miraa. Debates on this matter have been conducted in many continents and countries.

The importation and sale of miraa has been banned in a large number of countries including Canada, USA, Sweden, France, Germany, Netherlands (in fact of whole of the EU)Perhaps some of the criticisms against its use are too harsh, too exaggerated—but few are enthusiastic.

With the migration of Somalis to various parts of the world, the issue of the use of miraa travelled with them; with most countries (Canada, USA, Sweden, France, UK, Germany, Netherlands—in due course most of Europe) banned the import and use of miraa.

Whether this exaggerated the evils of miraa is contested—it is certainly the case that it is less harmful than most drugs. It is of interest that in most countries, the most vociferous opposition has come from Somali migrant leaders.

My own experience ( whenI was legal advisor to the Somali Constitutional Commission in 2008-9) was that consumption of miraa tended to disable the members and it was impossible to continue discussions and debate once chewing had begun for the day a.
To return to our president. Just over a month ago, he established a taskforce on the development of the miraa industry.

The taskforce, chaired by Geoffrey Nchooro M’mwenda with PS Dr. Richard Leresian Lesiyampe as alternate chair.was given three months to complete its assignment. It was to consult with farmers, traders and other stakeholders the taskforce was to recommend strategies tol support development of the industry.

Getting back lost markets and searching for new markets were among the strategies it was supposed to focus on.
The President made his statement on a politically motivated trip to Meru. The trip was part of a general strategy that he and his deputy have undertaken, travelling around the country, to mobilise political support for the next general elections—well over a year from now. One billion shillings were allocated to the project.
One comment on the internet observed, “One billion can fund hundreds of youths in technical colleges or help them start jua kali projects. Instead, JAP is asking the youths to chew miraa. The one billion will be given to the politicians fighting Munya, not farmers.”
Governor Munya was reported as is less than happy with the project, saying that the task force did not represent miraafarmers. “We thank President Uhuru Kenyatta for allocating Sh1 billion to help the farmers regain the lost markets and solve problems in the industry, but the task force is made up of relatives of some people.”
But there are other serious implications of the President’s action. If the primary purpose of his initiative is local consumption, it is going to run up against a large constituency who are opposed to drugs and drinks—indeed his own government by its action against alcohol sales in villages, and an energetic anti-drink national institution.

His task force is to open up markets abroad, in countries where the importation and consumption of miraa are illegal (though Kenya traders are credited with breaches of the law). These countries are otherwise good trading partners of Kenya, a relationship which will be jeopardised if illegal exports take place.

Is this the beginning of a new “opium war” – in which the British fought the Chinese in the nineteenth century to force them to consume opium?
It is true that Uhuru wants votes from Meru in the next election—his sole purpose—but surely he can equally win their votes by support for other crops which can grow well area.

Much better than trying to arm-twist countries that had banned the trade at the request of their own citizens and residents, or promoting a practice widely thought to be harmful among others who have so far avoided it. His action is a sad commentary on the nature of our politics, and obsession with votes at any cost.

Source: The-Star

Ethiopia believes in continuous improvement of health sector: Dr. Tedros

(EBC; July 22, 2016) - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Tedros Adhanom during his meeting with a delegation from a US-based NGO Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon on Friday emphasized that "Ethiopia believes in innovation & continuous improvement of the health sector," adding that health is "taken seriously as it is a fundamental rights issue."

Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon is a US-based NGO dedicated to helping women access preventive care and treatment for cervical and breast cancers where the need is in greatest demand.

Dr. Tedros thanked the organization for its continued support to Ethiopia's nationwide efforts to detect early and treat cervical and breast cancer.

Referring to the upcoming 10th Stop Cervical and Prostate Cancer in Africa (SCCA) conference that will be held 24--27 July 2016 in Addis Ababa, Dr Tedros noted the conference will raise awareness on the matter at the highest possible level, which in turn could save many lives.

Acknowledging the constant support Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon extended to Ethiopia, the Minister assured Ms. Schocken that the cooperation will bring a better change for there is political will at the highest levels of government.

Head of the delegation, Ms. Celina Schocken extended her appreciation to the people and Government of Ethiopia for the warm welcome and hospitality accorded to the delegation.

MS. Schocken said she has been impressed by the writing of Ethiopia's National Cancer Control Plan and its subsequent launching on 26 October 2015 by Mrs. Roman Tesfaye, the First Lady of Ethiopia and Dr. Kesetebirhan Admasu, the Minister of Health, which she said would have a significant impact on the prevention and control of cancer in Ethiopia.

Ms. Schocken also lauded Ethiopia's efforts in significantly reducing stigma on HIV, adding that the country should also do the same in curbing the current stigma on cancer patients, which she said is at its highest in Africa.

Source: MoFA

Thousands displaced by Ethiopian floods

Flash floods displaced nearly 120,000 people in Ethiopia last month and a total of almost half a million are expected to be affected this year, government and humanitarian agencies say.

The floods are part of the global El Nino weather phenomenon that had previously caused a severe drought in the Horn of Africa nation following successive failed rains.

The drought has left 10.2 million people in need of food aid and aid agencies on Wednesday said that figure could rise to more than 15 million by August. Ethiopia's total population is 90 million.

Data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) showed 119,711 people in six provinces had been displaced by last month's 'exceptional' flooding. Some of the affected regions had already been hard hit by food shortages, it said.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in a newsletter that a total of nearly 190,000 people across Ethiopia could be 'displaced at some point'.

River and flash floods caused by Ethiopia's 'belg' rains which run from February to April are likely to affect a total of 485,610 people this year, UNOCHA said.

The floods are hampering the deliveries of food aid, it added.

State-affiliated news outlets said up to 50 people had died so far from flooding or flooding-induced mudslides in Ethiopia's southern regions.

The El Nino phenomenon is a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific that occurs every few years.

Its global consequences include drought in some parts of the Americas, eastern and southern Africa and southeast Asia, as well as abnormally wetter conditions in some countries.

Ethiopia was ravaged by famine in 1984 which killed hundreds of thousands of people but it now boasts one of the Africa's fastest growing economies and experts say it is far better able to cope with a new crisis.

Reuters

Ethiopian medical conference celebrates Exeter link

The Exeter team with colleagues in Wollega.

The University of Exeter Medical School is co-hosting an international knowledge-sharing conference with its partner in Ethiopia on April 15.

One hundred and fifty doctors and medical students from across Ethiopia are attending the one-day international event on Medical Education in the 21st Century which has been organised by Truro-based clinicians in collaboration with the University of Wollega’s Medical School situated in western Ethiopia, 200 miles from Addis Ababa.

The conference has been has been supported by a grant from the Tropical Health and Education Trust, and is designed to share clinical ideas and provide networking opportunities. It has been co-organised and hosted by Dr Julie Thacker, Clinical Sub Dean with support from Dr Ian Fussell, Community Sub Dean at the University of Exeter Medical School, and Professor Rob Marshall, who initiated the link, celebrates a two-year relationship between the two medical schools which has seen a number of teaching collaborations and exchanges.

Three medical students from the University of Exeter will be at the conference with Dr Thacker, Dr Bill Stableforth, a consultant from the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust and Dr Ian Coutts, a retired respiratory physician. The day will include talks, workshops and posters produced by students and researchers from both institutions. The conference will showcase a clinical skills simulation lab that Exeter clinicians have helped to set up with the Wollega Medical School Team and will include a workshop on OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) and a medical humanities workshop led by Dr Thacker.

As well as regular visits to Wollega over the last two years and shared teaching, the Exeter team has helped set up a research project between the university and the Red Cross. This will help address the development of a water supply in nearby villages and the evaluation will be led by the public health department in Wollega.

“It is a massive achievement to have put this conference together,” said Dr Fussell, “and is a reflection of the good working relationship that has been developed between the two medical schools. It also marks the graduation of the first cohort of students that we have been teaching from Wollega, who are now beginning to work in the local hospital. It is particularly ground-breaking that are we have been able to introduce the idea and value of medical humanities into an Ethiopian Medical School and I am very proud of all the doctors and students who have contributed.”

Dr Eba Mijena, Vice President of Wollega University, said: “We are delighted to be working with the University of Exeter Medical School on the conference. We are looking forward to a long happy relationship of working together and learning together in the future.”

There will be a fund raising event with a hog roast and local band on Saturday April 30 to raise money for the medical school collaboration. Please visit the Facebook page for details of this and pictures and updates on the project.

Date: 15 April 2016

Read more University News

Researcher Works to End HIV Stigma in Ethiopia, India

By Ashley Ayon Loza, University Communications

Carol Sipan

UC Merced lecturer Carol Sipan became concerned with the social stigma of HIV in some developing countries after a 2009 trip to Burundi, where she and a colleague from Tanzania were training pastors and church leaders on what they and their congregations could do to reduce HIV and its impact in their community.

Her concern, along with her passion for both international work and HIV prevention research, drove her to seek solutions. Sipan, an assistant professional researcher in UC Merced’s Health Sciences Research Institute, is now partnering with church leaders in Ethiopia and India to provide communities with sustainable treatment options, family support and education about HIV.

“I saw things there that could create real barriers to people receiving the support that they need,” she said. “The stigma that they endure is just incredible.”

Throughout her visits to these communities, Sipan learned that women and children are particularly affected by this stigma, regardless of whether they have the virus. In many cases, men refrain from telling anyone that they have HIV, then die without warning from related diseases.

Their widows, then considered unlucky and unsuitable for marriage, are often unable to provide for their children and can be turned away by their own parents. Many of them are infected with HIV from their husbands and have no options for remarriage. Their children are left starving and too poor to attend school, and daughters of people with HIV are likely to never be accepted for marriage.

Men and women with HIV are often shunned in their communities, and those wanting to be treated can spend half a month’s pay for transportation to clinics in urban areas, with no guarantee that medications will be available there. Poor nutrition and a lack of education about the virus lead to related illnesses and an inability to work regularly.

So Sipan and the church leaders developed the idea of implementing mobile clinics, microclinics and nutritional programs as ways to subvert the stigma and get people the help they need.

Mobile clinics could provide primary care for all residents, Sipan said, creating safe places for HIV-positive people to receive crucial testing and treatment privately, without the community learning of the reason for their visits.

Sipan with collaborators from Mekane Yesus and pastors who attended HIV training in Fiche, Ethiopia, in January.

Microclinics can provide longer-term, sustainable environments for fostering healthy habits, support and education, she said. A microclinic consists of about three people in an immediate social network who are trained to manage disease and provide support for one another. They hold regular meetings to share successes and failures and meet monthly with other microclinics to share information. As community interest grows, healthy habits and education about disease become more widespread, and the likelihood of permanent, communitywide change increases.

“People really start looking at how they can come together and change their community,” Sipan said.

To achieve these goals, Sipan will work with Microclinics International, which will train her on leading microclinics so she can train church leaders in India and Ethiopia. She sees the churches as the best place to start, as they can bring communities together to more naturally begin the difficult conversation about HIV.

To address some of the health difficulties associated with poor nutrition and low income, she also hopes to involve organizations such as Heifer International, a project that supplies families with animals that can provide food and reliable incomes. In addition, she plans to identify private donors, foundations or grant-makers to provide financial support for the children who would otherwise be unable to attend school.

“We need to create both social and physical environments that support healthy behavior,” she said.

Free ambulance service halves pregnancy-related deaths in rural Ethiopia

An operational assessment of a national free ambulance services programme reveals a drastic reduction in pregnancy-related deaths in rural Ethiopia, suggesting that the innovative model could offer a cost-effective way to improve maternal health outcomes across Sub-Saharan Africa. This argument is presented in an article published today in the Journal of Global Health.

"Despite major international concerns around maternal health and efforts to bring up institutional delivery rates, little attention has been given to the need for logistical solutions that bring African women to delivery centres fast," says Peter Byass, epidemiologist at Umeå University and co-author of the article. "The halving of pregnancy-related deaths that we saw coincided with an increased availability of free ambulance services in Ethiopia suggests that similar services could be a key innovation for improving maternal and infant health throughout Sub-Saharan Africa."

The article describes the health impacts of Ethiopia's national ambulance service programme. The one-year operational assessment was conducted by researchers at Umeå University's Centre for Global Health Research along with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and the Tigray Regional Health Bureau.

The assessment compared pregnancy-related deaths before and after programme implementation, including the percentage of deliveries using ambulances, across six randomly selected rural districts of northern Ethiopia. During the period, a total of 51 pregnancy-related deaths and 19,179 live births were reported in the districts. The areas where ambulance services were frequently used for women's obstetric needs saw substantially reduced mortality rates. Districts with above average utilisation of ambulance services had a pregnancy-related mortality rate of 149 per 100,000 live births whereas that same rate was 350 in areas with below average utilisation of ambulance services.

The findings are described in an article titled "Can innovative ambulance transport avert pregnancy-related deaths? One-year operational assessment in Ethiopia", published today in the Journal of Global Health.

The Ethiopian government's ambulance service is unique in Sub-Saharan Africa. Providing four-wheel drive ambulances in every rural district in the country, the programme includes a total of 1,250 ambulances offering delivery services 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The national ambulance service programme was launched with a USD 50 million investment. Its sustainability is ensured through collaborative financing agreements with regional governments, who agree to make the services available free of charge

Great Falls doctor fixing broken hearts in Ethiopia

There is something rewarding about fixing a broken heart in a Third World country.
Dr. Roberto Amado-Cattaneo, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Benefis Health System, is heading back to Ethiopia on Friday for the third time, to perform surgeries to repair and replace the valves of at least 12 to 14 young adults’ hearts.

These are young adults who have developed rheumatic heart disease – a condition that develops when strep throat goes undiagnosed and untreated over time – and Cattaneo and a team of health care providers from Great Falls will be bringing $100,000 in donated medical supplies to Addis Ababa. They’ll perform between 12 to 14 surgeries in the two weeks they are in Ethiopia.

GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE

Hundreds of youths join to donate shoes to Africa

“We have some sort of obligation to help these people,” Cattaneo said. “When you see these people, you realize you’re doing the right thing. It’s really an honor.”

Cattaneo has received support from Benefis Health System to cover the cost of some of the medication as well as a grant from the Benefis Health System Foundation to support the project. He’ll be taking with him anesthesiologist, Dr. Joshua Newsted; Wells Giles, a perfusionist; former Benefis nurse Jamie Warcken and current Benefis nurse Rachel Reimnitz.

“It’s so impressive,” said Dan Hollow, director of the Benefis Health Foundation. “It’s a big sacrifice to take their time time off and go.”

Cattaneo will work on the campus of the Black Lion Hospital in the Cardiac Centre of Ethiopia. Cattaneo said it was started by an Ethiopian physician with ties to other physicians around the world. Teams from six different countries come in throughout the year to help with as many cases as they can.

A photo showing a heart valve replacement taken at the Cardiac Centre of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. (Photo: Courtesy of Roberto Amado-Cattaneo)

Though Addis Ababa is the capital city, a vast majority of the population lives outside of there, with little to no access medical care. So, when a child develops strep throat, they don’t always have access to the penicillin to treat their symptoms, which is easily accessible in more developed countries. If the strep doesn’t go away, a person can then develop acute rheumatic fever. Symptoms of the fever include joint pain and carditis, which is an inflammation of the heart. If that is not treated, Cattaneo said the carditis attacks the valves of the heart and damages them, causing a person to go into heart failure.

When Cattaneo and his team perform the surgeries, which last approximately five hours, the goal is to repair the valve if possible, or replace it with a new, artificial valve. Those valves are approximately $5,000 apiece, and Cattaneo said he’s been successful in getting the manufacturer to donate 10 valves. Other equipment has been donated as well. But each of the doctors and nurses has paid for their own airfare and hotel.

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“Benefis is a big supporter of my mission,” Cattaneo said.
Most of the patients he’ll see are teenagers or young adults. There are plenty of adults with rheumatic heart disease, but unfortunately, Cattaneo said, the doctors are limited to serving the patients they know have a greater chance of survival after surgery.

Though the cardiac center and doctors are well equipped, Cattaneo said it’s not uncommon for the power to go out five or six times during a surgery.

“Everything goes black until the generator kicks in,” he said.

Volunteer medical staff visit with a patient at Cardiac Centre of Ethiopia during their visit to Addis Ababa in 2015. (Photo: Courtesy of Roberto Amado-Cattaneo)

In the process of treating patients, Cattaneo and other volunteers work with and train local hospital staff on treating patients. Still, Ethiopia is a country with more than 90 million people and not nearly enough hospitals and clinics outside of Addis Ababa. It’s not uncommon to see people sitting in the street or laying on the grounds outside of the Black Lion hospital waiting for care, Cattaneo said.
“It’s a nonstop two weeks,” he said. “Sometimes you want to stay longer because you see the long line of people waiting.”
Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kristen Cates at 791-1463. Follow her on Twitter @GFTrib_KCates.

Healthcare System Development in Tanzania and Ethiopia

The Tanzanian healthcare system is a mixture of the public and private sectors; the latter includes private-for-profit, non-governmental organizations (NGO) and faith-based organizations. - Women constitute % of the population; % of all Tanzanians are under the age of 14. The life expectancy of women is higher than that of men in Tanzania.

- The major health challenge in Tanzania is HIV/AIDS, followed by TB and Respiratory Infections. Malnutrition is an underlying contributory factor to about % of all Infant deaths below five years in Tanzania.

- 19% of the total population in Tanzania has some kind of health insurance coverage. Tanzania has a number of medical insurance and health financing systems in place, but most of them are inefficiently managed. A few of these systems actually benefit those that need healthcare the most.

- Other than donor spending, households' out-of-pocket spending (OOP) also contributes significantly to the Total Health Expenditure of Tanzania. Out-of-pocket spending excluding insurance has more than doubled from an estimated $ in 2009 to an estimated $ in 2011.

- There is a strong increase in the number of mHealth projects across Tanzania, most of them being a Public Private Partnership (PPP). One of the successful mHealth initiatives is the integrated disease surveillance reporting.

Ethiopia is the most populous country in East Africa with a predominant youth population. About % of diseases are preventable conditions which are related to personal hygiene, infectious diseases, environmental factors and malnutrition.

- Ethiopian economy has risen to % in the fiscal year of 2012–2013. It is the 12th fastest growing economy in the world, with a GDP of % for the last 10 years.

- The major health challenges include high maternity and child mortality due to neonatal diseases and pneumonia, followed by other communicable diseases like diarrhoeal diseases, tuberculosis and malaria. Malnutrition contributes to about % of all Infant deaths below five years in Ethiopia.

- The government of Ethiopia has not built a new hospital for the last years in its capital city of Addis Ababa. With its few, out-dated and under-supplied state-run hospitals, the condition of public healthcare is poor.

- The Oromia region has the highest number of hospitals in Ethiopia, followed by Addis Ababa. Health posts constitute about % of the total health facilities in Ethiopia;

.- Ethiopian healthcare system in heavily staffed with nurses, followed by public health officers. Ethiopia has a better ratio of specialists than other East African countries.

- One of the main challenges faced by Ethiopians is the inability to access either private medical insurance, which generally requires formal employment, or national insurance schemes. Private medical insurance is still in its infancy in Ethiopia.
- The private sector is more conscious of the need for product quality than public hospitals which operate on tight budget constraints.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03603138-summary/view-report.html

More: http://www.pharmiweb.com/pressreleases/pressrel.asp?ROW_ID=151088#.VrMJW9KF5kg#ixzz3zBYR7D9F

Ethiopian hospital treats thousands in remote region

Eritrean refugees - AFP

12/12/2015 10:00

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(Vatican Radio) Ethiopia currently boasts the most booming economy in Africa and one of the top five fastest growing economies in the world. For the 10th consecutive year, the East African nation has reported an increase in GDP, with annual growth averaging 10% over the past decade, according to government statistics.

Yet in rural areas, drought and food shortages still threaten parts of the country and earlier this autumn the UN launched an appeal for funds to support over 8 million people still dependent on foreign aid.

Along Ethiopia’s northern border with Eritrea 100.000 refugees live in four overcrowded camps, overseen by a large military presence. Close to the border, in the town of Sheraro, the Maiani General Hospital is helping care for thousands of patients, including refugees from the nearby camps.

Luca Attanasio recently visited the hospital and talked to its director, Esayas Tiezazu, about the vital role of its health facilities in this remote part of the country.

Listen to the full interview:

He says the facilities are good for the local community, especially mothers who no longer have to travel 95 kilometres to the nearest hospital. The most common problems that are treated at the hospital are malaria, leishmaniasis, trauma and snake bites, he said, while up to 700 babies are delivered each year...

Lavinia Incocciati is a midwife and supervisor of the maternity department of the hospital. She talked to Luca Attanasio about the importance of providing ante-natal and post-partum care to women who are all suffering from dietary related anemia:

She says that building the hospital in such a remote area is very important for people in the rural villages and along the border area….she tells the story of one refugee mother from Ethiopia who gave birth in a camp but was then taken to hospital where her baby received the necessary care…

From November 18th to 21st staff from the Maiani hospital took part in an international congress entitled ‘Blood and Skin: new perspectives for neglected diseases’. The conference, held in Ethiopia, was organised by Professor Aldo Morrone, president of the Mediterranean Institute of Haematology and one of the founders of the hospital, which was inaugurated in 2014. He told Luca about the significance and the goals of that encounter:

He says that while such international conferences are normally held in Western countries, it is also important to gather in Africa and bring together experts with knowledge and experience of local diseases. As well as providing valuable support for research, the conference also helped to promote two campaigns, one against childhood diarrhea, the second highest cause of child mortality in the world, and the other against counterfeit drugs which kill over 100.000 people in Africa each year.

Fourth African Medicines Regulators Conference kicks off in Ethiopia

The two-day Fourth African Regulators Conference, (AMRC) kicked off in the Ethiopian capital, Capital Addis Ababa on Wednesday, focused on supporting countries to accelerate the pace of establishing functional medicines regulatory agencies at national, regional and continental levels and strengthening the capacities of existing National Medicines Regulators Agencies in the Region, APA can report.“We want to establish a robust Monitoring and Evaluation, M&E framework to facilitate to monitor progress and assess impact of medicines regulation in promoting and protecting public health and its contribution to economic growth, we need strong National Medicines Regulatory Agencies s in Africa that can attain the status of Stringent Regulatory Authorities (SRA) that we currently see in Europe and US,” declared Aggrey Ambali, head of New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)’s Science, Technology and Innovation Hub during the opening ceremony.

The continental workshop will also create a platform to review progress made in the implementation of the five-year action plan (2014-2018) for strengthening the capacity for regulation of medical products in the Region and propose solutions for tackling challenges faced by countries.

Teaching microbiology in Ethiopia

DANTE R. SANTIAGO, associate professor at Jimma University in Ethiopia, serves as a mentor to his graduate and postgraduate students who are on to some ground-breaking and potentially life-saving discoveries.

Global Pinoy had the chance to interview through e-mail Dante R. Santiago, a Filipino scientist in Ethiopia.

He studied at the University of the Philippines, is married and has two daughters.

Excerpts from the interview:

Global Pinoy (GP): Was being a scientist a dream since childhood? Did a particular event happen that made you want to be a scientist? 

I became a scientist due to circumstance. I wanted to be a medical doctor in order to follow the footsteps of my older cousins (a doctor, a dietitian and a nurse). Also my aunt on my father’s side planned to put up a hospital so I thought that I could take part in it.

However, when I entered University of the Philippines in Diliman (premed courses were offered there at that time, 1970s), I realized that our finances could not support a medical curriculum which would last for nine years, at least.

So I shifted to BS Hygiene (now BS Public Health), the closest curriculum to medical laboratory technology thinking that if I pass the medical technology board and become a licensed practitioner I could still fit into my aunt’s planned hospital.

Time passed and plans changed. My older cousins all immigrated to the US and the planned hospital evaporated. Nevertheless, I pursued my hygiene course since it was too late to change it. In my junior year, I was fascinated with microbiology, the world of bacteria, molds and viruses (not the computer variety).

Microbiology really became my passion so much so that I decided to specialize in this field of study. So I took up MS in Microbioloy at UP Los Baños. At Los Baños, I also encountered the world of insects and since insects do get infected by microbes, I pursued my doctorate in Entomology (study of insects), specialized in Insect Pathology, the field representing the marriage between microbiology and entomology. Although I am an insect specialist now, I did not forsake my first passion—microbiology.

GP: How would you describe yourself as a scientist? Do you get lost in your work? What are some funny or not-so-funny incidences in your life with regard to your work? 

I am a focused person. When I decide to pursue an interest, my attention is almost fully directed to that endeavor. My wife complained about it because of my tendency to forget many responsibilities.

When we were building our house at Bay (next town to Los Baños), Laguna, my attention was divided between my work and checking on the progress of the house construction. Because of this I forgot to pick up my daughter Guia from nursery school one morning.

Fortunately, my laboratory attendant passed by the school, saw Guia and brought her to our house. When I came home that day, my wife asked me where my daughter was. I was horrified I forgot all about my daughter because my attention was on something less important than her.

GP: What is a typical day for you?

Here in Jimma, Ethiopia, I go to the university campus every day except Saturday and Sunday. The campus is just a 10-minute walk from my house. When I have class, I lecture in the morning and hold laboratory sessions in the afternoon. In most days, I spend my morning there doing

e-mails, reading online news (Inquirer, BBC, CNN and Al-Jazeera) and advising students.

In the afternoon, I just stay in my house, reading books. In the evening, I watch videos that I downloaded from the Internet or given by friends. I prefer videos with moral themes.

SANTIAGO is one of the first Filipinos to come to Ethiopia as an educator. During his tenure, he has advocated and succeeded in improving laboratory facilities of the university to better support its students.

GP: What is your ultimate goal as a scientist?

Well, my perspective has changed and I don’t do research anymore. Rather, I convince graduate and postgraduate students to go to the fields I am interested in and let them implement the research agenda I have. In this way, I train them to become either a microbiologist or entomologist in the specialization akin to mine.

For example, I guided a masteral student who was able to obtain from soil samples two bacteria that can degrade textile dyes in textile-industry waste water. Most textile dyes, in the liquid form, when swallowed can cause cancer in man, but are safe when already bound in the cloth.

He is the first person to do that in Ethiopia. Another graduate student of mine was the first Ethiopian to do research on the use of molds for control of mosquito that transmits malaria which is quite prevalent in this country.

Now, a postgraduate student is working under my supervision on the genetics of two protozoan parasites which are also prevalent here. Incidentally, my specialized field in microbiology is microbial genetics.

GP: Do you believe in a Supreme Being?

Yes, absolutely. But let me relate to you my journey in religion. I was baptized a Catholic and grew up a Catholic. However, my exposure to biological studies led me to become an evolutionist.

Evolutionary theory teaches that the universe came into being due to a naturalistic phenomenon, an implosion of a superdense matter that expanded leading to the formation of galaxies, stars, planets, moons and other objects (e.g., comets) in the cosmos. This is referred to now as the “Big Bang.”

Also, there is the naturalistic origin of life and the evolution of species, first “simple” ones such as bacteria that gave rise to more complex organisms such as plants, animals and ultimately, humans.

These are the teachings of Charles Darwin, the author of the now classic book, “The Origin of Species.” Evolution in biology is also called Darwinism. So, the creator God is excluded from the equation of the universe and life.

I came to realize later that evolution has two insurmountable flaws:

1. How matter came from nothing as supposed by the “Big Bang”; and

2. How life arose from inanimate matter as proposed by Darwinists and Neo-Darwinists (present biologists who champion Darwin’s ideas).

I am fully convinced that the nature of the universe and life forms can be better explained by the existence of a designer who formed such complex creations. I am now a Bible Christian, a Seventh-day Adventist.

I say I am a Bible Christian because my belief is entirely based on the teachings of the Bible. There are those who claim to be Christians but the doctrines they believe in are unbiblical such as the immortality of the soul, sacredness of Sunday, completion of atonement at the cross and the so-called secret rapture.

GP: Please tell us about your family. 

I am married with one spouse and two loving daughters, now both taller than me and my wife. My wife, Connie, is a nutritionist by profession and was a teacher in community health at UP.

After early retirement, she worked for some 12 years or so in the fast-food industry and is currently involved in the garment industry.

My elder daughter, Guia, is a graduate of Communication Arts at UP Los Baños and now works in the public relations industry. My younger daughter, Anne, although a graduate of Hotel and Restaurant Management at St. Paul’s University Manila, is with the human resource section of a foreign bank based in the Philippines.

GP: Do you ever stop working or are you like the stereotypical scientist in movies who is always working the whole time?

Not anymore. As I said, I relegate the hard work of research to my students who, by the way, are quite obsessed in the lines of study I involved them in. I am now some sort of overseer, looking over their shoulders and giving pointers when needed. So, I am more relaxed now in terms of “work” and I spend my time on another line of “work” which involves my church.

GP: What are your hobbies?

Well, I still read books. I don’t have television here in Ethiopia so books and videos are my pastime. Sometimes I collect insects for preservation but only a few and if I find them unusual or new to me.

When I retire, really retire if you know what I mean, I would like to learn how to play the saxophone. I like the sound. Also I would like to buy a telescope and admire God’s creations, especially the constellation Orion and the Orion nebula.

GP: What books do you like to read? What book are you reading now?

Now, I read the books of Ellen G. White, one of the founders of Seventh-day Adventist denomination and those of other Bible Christians. Once upon a time, I was an avid reader of the works of Robert Ludlum, JRR Tolkien and Christopher Paolini.

A FORMER evolutionist, Santiago is now a Bible Christian, a Seventh-day Adventist, and attends service and lectures at a church in Jimma, Ethiopia, where he currently works.

Biblical interest

Santiago says he saw an advertisement in a newspaper about teaching jobs in Ethiopia. “I was already retired from UP LB then and teaching in a college in Manila. Because Ethiopia is in the Bible, my interest was piqued and I applied.”

He says he was going to a place like Egypt. He was informed he was going to Jimma, located southwest of Addis Ababa, the capital.

“Fortunately, I was accepted by the Ethiopians who interviewed me right there and then.”

His notion was he was going to a larger version of Baguio City.

“When I saw Jimma the first time, it hit me that my initial impression of the country was way off the mark. Roads are not paved except the main highway, muddy when it rained and dusty when dry. I realized that beyond the capital city, Ethiopia is backward.

In 2006 when I first set foot here, the country was one of the 10 poorest in the world. It was only then that I understood why the United Nations Development Program under which I was hired as a teacher is called “capacity building,” that is, to help Ethiopia get out of the world’s cellar, so to speak. Since then, however, the economy and living conditions are improving which of course is inevitable since, for Ethiopia, the only way is up.

Culturally, Ethiopians are slow to adopt foreign ideas except cellular phones (for most people) and the Internet (for academics and professionals). For example, we planted pechay for our own consumption and when we shared it with the locals, the elderly refused to use it because “it is not Ethiopian.”

Also, the younger generation would not use chayote even when we taught them how to cook it because it is new to them. Their mind-set is to stick to things Ethiopian even though foreign ideas may improve their lot.

“I am one of the first Filipinos to come to Ethiopia as a college teacher. (We were told that, during the time of Ferdinand Marcos, Filipino high school teachers were deployed here.) I teach at the graduate and postgraduate levels and only very recently that I was asked to teach an undergraduate course in order to maximize the benefit of my presence here.

“In the beginning, there were only six Filipino teachers here in Jimma and now there are 13. Only two (including me) are not engineers. The other one is a lady English teacher. It is because of our good performance—the first batch of teachers—that the Ethiopian government decided to recruit more Filipino teachers.

“I think there may be more than 60 of us here scattered all over Ethiopia.

“Every now and then, we have gatherings and enjoy good Filipino food while drinking and singing songs (videoke). Also, a regular event is dinner in a restaurant when salary day comes. There are two fine restos near the campus which we frequent.”

He says most Ethiopians mistake Filipinos for Chinese and refer to them us: “You, you, China. When they realize we come from the Philippines, they call us Philippians, mistaking us for the people to whom the apostle Paul wrote a letter (The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians).

“This shows their familiarity with the Bible. (It is lamentable that unlike the Ethiopians, we Filipinos are Bible illiterate.) The dominant religions here are Orthodox Christianity (akin to the Greek Orthodox) and Islam. There are Evangelical Protestant churches and Catholics are a tiny minority.

“Many Ethiopians are wary of the Chinese but when they recognize we are not, they become courteous, friendly and even solicitous.

“Often, when I fall in line to pay my electric and water bills, those ahead of me would urge me to go to the front. Of course I decline their gracious offer. They usually greet us with ‘Where are you go’ and a smile. Children would say ‘I love you’ though we perfectly know that they don’t understand the true meaning of the words,” Santiago says.

Santiago comes home with two other Filipinos once a year for a one-and-a-half to two months vacation. “Of course I feel homesick once in a while. I believe we all do because when we gather together, we discuss events in the Philippines and I see the nostalgic look in the faces of others, especially those with small kids. I am the most senior in the group, three are in their early 50s and the rest, in their mid- or late 30s. This is the reason why there is videoke singing every time we meet, to ward off loneliness due to separation from dear families.”

Insects

Regarding insects, Santiago says, “Insects are very interesting because of their sheer variety and also functions in nature. Insects are the most dominant animals in the world. Without some of them, we cannot have most of our fruits for they are the flower pollinators.

“Do you know that the pollinators of the mango tree are the green bottle flies we call bangaw?

“The most interesting insect for me is of course the butterfly, very colorful and graceful in flight, indeed. Remember the strategy of Muhammad Ali? ‘Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.’ However, I don’t collect them; I merely admire them. This is because when I was still a postgraduate student, our teachers advised us not to catch them for they are already considered a threatened species I agree with them.

“So I collect beetles instead. They are the most numerous and variable of all insects. I prefer the scarabs, which have sizes ranging from small to huge and stunning coloration ranging from drab grey to shiny black or green or yellow or blue hue.

“If chance permits, you may view the scarabs in Google Images and you will also be fascinated with them. Some species serve as food such as the salagubang and toy like the salaginto. You might also be familiar with the rhinoceros beetle or uwang (so called because of the very prominent horn on the head, very much like the rhinoceros) that is the bane of coconut trees.”

Source: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/