Geography

Ethiopia, located in the North Eastern part of Africa, also known as the Horn of Africa, lies between 3 and 15 degrees North latitude and 33 and 48 degrees East longitude. With a total area of around 1.1 million square kilometres, it borders with five countries - Eritrea in the north, Djibouti in the east, Sudan in the west, Kenya in the south and Somalia in the southwest. The size of the country and its location has accorded it with diverse topography, resources as well as geographic and climatic zones.

Population

Ethiopia’s population has been growing rapidly in recent years. It has been growing at a rate of 2.7% p.a. since 2000, by an increment of 2 million persons annually. With a total Population of 73 million in 2005, it has become the second most populous country in Africa, following Nigeria, which has a population of 140 million.
At an annual growth rate of 2.7%, nearly half of the population (49.7%) is female. The average household size is 4.8. Out of the total population, 85% lives in rural areas, making Ethiopia one of the least urbanised countries in the world. As in many other developing countries, the rate of growth of the urban population (4.1%) is higher than that of the total population (2.7%). Rapid population growth exacerbates critical gaps in basic health services especially when growth of the economy is low or per capita incomes are in decline.

Health Sector Organisation

Important steps have been taken in the decentralisation of the health care system. Decision making processes in the development and implementation of the health system are shared between the Federal Ministry of Health (MOH), the Regional Health Bureaus (RHBs) and the Woreda Health Offices.  As a result of recent policy measures taken by the Government, MOH and the RHBs are made to function more on policy matters and technical support, while the woreda health offices have been made to play the pivotal roles of managing and coordinating the operation of the primary health care services.

Health Care Coverage and Utilisation

The overall potential health service coverage in 2008 EFY is estimated at 89.6%, 25.6% increase from 2004. Nonetheless, this varies substantially among the regions depending on their topographic and demographic characteristics. Geographical distance from a health facility and socio economic factors are the major obstacle for the bulk of the Ethiopian population. However, the trend over time shows that there is a steady increase both in health care coverage and utilisation.

Health Care Financing

Health services in Ethiopia are financed by four main sources. These are government (both federal and regional); bilateral and multilateral donors (both grants and loans); non-governmental organizations; and private contributions.  The National Health Accounts exercise for financial year 2000/01 revealed that households contribute 36%, government 33%, and bilateral and multilateral donors 16%.

The National Health Ethiopia at a Glance

Total Population:    73,221,000
Population Growth Rate:    2.7% p.a.
Total Land Area:    1.1 million square kilometres
Life Expectancy at Birth M/F (years):    47/49
Infant Mortality Rate:    77/1000 live births
Under 5 Mortality Rate:    123/1000 live births
HIV/AIDS Prevalence:    2.1%
National Contraceptive Acceptance Rate:    51%
Total Expenditure on Health as % of GDP:    11.6%