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Blue Nile Children's Organization is run by a small staff and volunteers, both in Seattle and in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Many of our projects can be benefited by additional volunteers or interns. If you are interested in working for BNCO or would like to comment or ask questions please contact us!

Life-expectancy at birth is about 50 years in Ethiopia. This early age is due, in part, to deaths before the age of five (166 per 1000 live births) and (for women) in and around the time of child-birth (850 deaths per 100,000 live births). More than 40% of Ethiopia’s population is under 15 years of age. These numbers are sometimes difficult to put in perspective, so they are compared, in the table below, to the same numbers for a rich country (the U.S.), a rapidly developing Asian country (Vietnam) and another sub-Saharan African country (Kenya).

 

 

As of 2001, about 16% of Ethiopia’s population lived in urban areas, and 57% of the country’s adult population was literate.i The current BNCO Medical Missions are directed toward an urban site (ROMC is located in the Kolfe-Keranio subcity of Addis Ababa), but given ROMC’s proximity to a large market and bus-station, it is hoped that some members of the rural population will be able to seek care there. ROMC has the long-term goal of providing healthcare and health-education outreach to outlying rural areas, but will not have begun these activities by the time of the first BNCO Mission.

 

The organizations listed below offer rich demographic data for those who wish to explore this topic further. The Globalis map is particularly usable for the casual visitor.

 

United Nations Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division
United Nations Population Information Network
United Nations Population Fund
United Nations Statistics Division
Globalis Interactive World Map, 2001 Data(ref ii for this page)

Although Ethiopia is plagued by the leading global infectious killers – AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria – its poor life-expectancy can also be attributed to other infectious diseases, chronic diseases and injuries. The top-ten causes of death in Ethiopia in 2002 were:ii

 

Lower respiratory infections
HIV/AIDS
Perinatal conditions
Diarrhoeal diseases
Tuberculosis
Measles
Cerebrovascular disease
Ischaemic heart disease
Malaria
Syphilis

 

The top-ten reasons for outpatient visits in 2006-7 were as followsiii:

 

Acute upper respiratory infections
Other helminths
Injury purposely inflicted by other persons (not in war)
All other diseases of Genito-Urinary system
Other unspecified malaria
Bronchopneumonia
Infections of skin and subcutaneous tissue
Muscular rheumatism and rheumatism unspecified
Primary atypical, other, and unspecified pneumonia

 

Epidemiologic information for Ethiopia are available from the following organizations. Please note that some documents show dates according to the Ethiopian calendar. (1999 on Ethiopian calendar = 2006-7 on ours.)

 

The World Health Organization
-----In particular, see their "WHO Mortality Country Fact Sheet – Ethiopia – 2006" (reference i for this page).
The Ethiopian Ministry of Health
Center for National Health Development in Ethiopia
-----In particular, see the "Summary of Basic Health Indicators" link (aka "Ministry of Health 1999 Summary of Health and Health Related Indicator, reference iii for this page)

 

Medical Mission participants are advised to review clinical presentation, diagnosis, pathophysiology, and treatment of some of the common Ethiopian diseases that are less frequently encountered in the U.S. Likewise, for presenting complaints that are described as syndromes (without a causative agent listed), participants are advised to review microbes less commonly found in the U.S. Note, however, that some of the most common causes of death in Ethiopia are seen in practice in the U.S., as well. Also note that national data do not necessarily reflect disease frequency in Addis Ababa. For example, Addis Ababa is located at high elevation, and, thus, is not malarious.

 

We continuously looking for data that can help prepare Mission volunteers before departure. If you have skills in searching medical and epidemiological literature, or are a health student looking for an on-the-ground research project, please contact BNCO. We would love to have lists of the most common presenting conditions for Addis Ababa and Kolfe-Keranio, specifically, that can be reviewed prior to departure. We would also love data on the most common respiratory and diarrheal pathogens in Ethiopia, and prevalence of drug-resistant strains. On the ground, the ROMC staff will be a source of this information, but many providers feel better being able to read ahead.