Health workers visit Ethiopia to develop hospital links
Members of a Sheffield-based group that has provided support and advice to partner hospitals in Ethiopia for over 17 years have visited the country to continue their ongoing work to develop and improve health services.
Six members of Sheffield Health Action Resource for Ethiopia (SHARE) recently visited St Pauls Hospital in Addis Ababa and Ayder Referral Hospital in Mekelle.
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The group helped with infection prevention and patient safety work, the improvement of laboratory facilities and a biomedical engineering project. They also delivered dental equipment, helped refurbish the children’s playroom in Ayder Hospital, and visited an orphanage to deliver more than 300 second-hand school uniforms donated by children from Sheffield.
SHARE is an international health link between Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (STH) and hospitals in Tigray region of Ethiopia. The link was established in 2000 since when, with the support of STH and other organisations, the hospital has developed from a shell without running water or electricity to one of the best hospitals in the country.
Bio-medical engineers have visited every year since 2008 to assist with developing services and infrastructure, a nursing library has been established with donated text books, IT systems have been put in place and beds and medical equipment and instruments have been shipped over. Staff from both hospitals have benefitted from visits and training.
The chair of SHARE, Cariad Evans, is a consultant virologist at STH. It was her first visit to Ethipoia for ten years.
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She said: “It was great to visit again and see how the vision has come to life. It is a very valuable experience for people on both sides, and you do find that when people return, their perspective has changed dramatically. You develop leadership skills and learn how to cope in unfamiliar conditions.”
Cariad has taken over as chair from Anne Russell, who stepped down after moving to Edinburgh.
Anne said: “It has been a privilege to have been welcomed so often to Ethiopia and I have made many friends there who I hope to visit again.
“SHARE is regarded as a prime example of the way the staff of the NHS can support the development of health services and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals is universally praised for its dedication to this long-term international link.”
For more information about SHARE please contact Cariad by emailing her at cariad.evans@sth.nhs.uk.
ENDS
Pic 1: SHARE members in the newly refurbished playroom in Ayder Hospital
Pic 2: Anne Russell (left) with Cariad Evans
MEDIA CONTACT:
John Birch, Communications Officer
Tel: 0114 226 8989
Email: john.birch@sth.nhs.uk
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