Empowering women health workers enable witness success …………….. ………………..

MEKELE — THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD Newspaper 24 April 2016: Encouraging achievements have been registered following the active engagement of women in the health sector. The practice of health extension program is one of the popular interventions that won the recognition of the international community.
The Tigray State Health Bureau is witnessing budding results in health sector with the active engagement and efforts of empowering women.
Bureau head Hagos Godefie told a team of visiting journalists last Thursday that empowering women has played a great role to achieve goals aimed at improving maternal and child health care services in the State.  The head said that some 60 percent of employees are females from the fourteen thousand workers in the health sector.

Women health workers have contributed significantly to improve the awareness of the public towards health issues including vaccination. The public is well aware of the importance of vaccination. To this end, the public is taking part actively in the vaccination campaign.
With the great contribution of females health workers the bureau has now able to provide ten types of vaccinations for children, he said added, the vaccination coverage has reached ninety five percent.
Similarly, he said that the maternal mortality rate has been decreased by more than 75 percent. The bureau is working to reach 90 percent by the end of 2016.

The head said the bureau will be focusing on four components including transforming Woredas, quality and equity, compassionate and respectful health care, and information revolution. Despite encouraging progress, the sector is facing challenges in related to health workers dissatisfaction. The Bureau is working to address through awareness and training programs. For instance, health extension workers have been provided various training. Some 800 health workers are attending the training currently, according to Hagos.
BY HENOK TIBEBU