Cost-effectiveness analysis of clinical specialist outreach as compared to referral system in Ethiopia: an economic evaluation

BACKGROUND: In countries with scarce specialized Human resource for health, patients are usually referred. The other alternative has been mobilizing specialists, clinical specialist outreach. This study examines whether clinical specialist outreach is a cost effective way of using scarce health expertise to provide specialist care as compared to provision of such services through referral system in Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study on four purposively selected regional hospitals and three central referral hospitals was conducted from Feb 4-24, 2009. The perspective of analysis was societal covering analytic horizon and time frame from 1 April 2007 to 31 Dec 2008. Data were collected using interview of specialists, project focal persons, patients and review of records. To ensure the propriety standards of evaluation, Ethical clearance was obtained from Jimma University. RESULTS: It was found that 532 patients were operated at outreach hospitals in 125 specialist days. The unit cost of surgical procedures was found to be ETB 4,499.43. On the other hand, if the 125 clinical specialist days were spent to serve patients referred from zonal and regional hospitals at central referral hospitals, 438 patients could have been served. And the unit cost of surgical procedures through referral would have been ETB 6,523.27 per patient. This makes clinical specialist outreach 1.45 times more cost effective way of using scarce clinical specialists' time as compared to referral system. CONCLUSION: Clinical specialist outreach is a cost effective and cost saving way of spending clinical specialists' time as compared to provision of similar services through referral system

Rural Roads and Development: Evidence from Ethiopia

Previous empirical studies on Ethiopia identified adequate access to rural roads as one of the key determinants of rural income. However, most of these studies ignored the effect of spatial dimension of road infrastructure on rural income. As a result, the productivity of road reported by these studies is likely to be underestimated by the extent that local equilibrium prices adjust to the stock of local road infrastructure. This paper attempts to partially address the problem by specifying the link between rural roads and household income in the context of a spatial equilibrium framework. The results show that road-induced rural income growth is substantially higher than what was reported by previous studies that used the same dataset. Road-induced factor productivity and returns to land and labour are also found to be the main channels by which better road access enhances rural income

Global Diffusion of the Internet X: The Diffusion of Telemedicine in Ethiopia: Potential Benefits, Present Challenges, and Potential Factors

Delivery of healthcare services presents many challenges for governments in most developing countries. Some of these challenges include financial and human resources issues that might affect governments\u27 ability to manage and transform scarce resources to meet healthcare needs. Telemedicine, a healthcare delivery technology where physicians examine patients from distant locations using information technologies, is reported to be increasingly helpful in meeting the needs of the healthcare sector in developing nations such as those in sub-Saharan Africa. This conceptual study reports on the sectoral adoption of telemedicine in Ethiopia, a sub-Saharan African country. We examine the potential benefits of telemedicine diffusion in Ethiopia, addressing the country\u27s healthcare needs, and discussing the obstacles and challenges. Based on previous literature, as well as experiences drawn from other developing nations, we address three potential factors that could influence the diffusion of telemedicine in Ethiopia: active participation of institutions of higher education, Ethiopian foreign alliances, and government involvement. Although the initial successes are relatively small and involve isolated projects, they have been promising and have set the stage for researchers to investigate prevailing projects so as to gain better understanding of the aforementioned factors. Our study does not claim that telemedicine can solve all of Ethiopia\u27s medical challenges; however, we contend that it is a starting point to reach Africans that live in areas with limited medical facilities and personnel. Hence, our study could have far reaching implications as the world looks to help this country, and by extension, other developing countries, to overcome their medical challenges and join the information society

Potato technologies for improved food security and better income

United States Agency for International Developmen

Morphology, Biochemical and Genomic Diversity of Hexaploid Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Varieties in Ethiopia: A Prospective Study

Hexaploid Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important food cereals grown in many areas worldwide. World population is to increase by 2.6 billion in 2050. Ethiopia is one of the world’s nine countries needed to increase food production. Since few studies on genetic diversity & in adequate evaluation of bread wheat varieties; my objective the project is to study genetic diversity of bread wheat varieties using morphological, SSRs, good baking quality, grain quality performance across environments, and compare and contrast all the mentioned characters. 121 bread wheat varieties, arranged in 11x11 simple lattice design, will be studied at 3 agro ecological regions of Ethiopia for 2013/14 using 25 morphological/phenotypic parameters as a preliminary genetic diversity study from the field; 10 baking and milling quality parameters of the varieties, seed storage protein using SDS electrophoresis banding patterns, and DNA finger printing microsatellite markers of each varieties in laboratory. Hence, the extent and nature of genetic diversity, grain quality, environmental effects on seed storage proteins, genetic variation using SSRs markers, and potential varieties for further breeding and improvement of nutritional and baking quality suggested. Genetic diversity, plant breeders rely on during selection in cultivar development, is one of the key factors for the improvement of many crop plants including wheat. This research is of great interest and is in line with the current Global Wheat Program, will contribute to the increasing of food security, improve productivity and profitability of wheat farming and sustain natural resources in the developing world.Key words: Genetic diversity, SSRs, Triticum aestivum L., Varieties

Post-harvest and food safety: Africa RISING science, innovations and technologies with scaling potential from the Ethiopian Highlands

United States Agency for International Developmen

Evaluation of Electrochemical Performance of Antimony Modified Screen-Printed Carbon Electrodes

Received: 07.03.2024. Revised: 25.03.2024. Accepted: 28.03.2024. Available online: 09.04.2024.Neutral red was used as redox probe for comparative evaluation of the electrochemical performance of SPCEs modified with antimony.CV experiments showed an increase in the electroactive surface area of Sb/SPCEs compared to the bare-SPCE, depending on surface morphology.The obtained SEM, cyclic voltammetry and EIS data are in good agreement.A good correlation between electrochemical and electroanalytical characteristics of Sb/SPCEs was observed.NR as a redox probe can help controlling modification processes during the development of innovative antimonycontaining sensors.This study compares the electrochemical performance of screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) modified with antimony (Sb/SPCEs) under different potentiostatic pre-plating conditions. Neutral Red (NR) was employed as a novel redox probe to evaluate the electrochemical performance of Sb/SPCEs. It was demonstrated that NR in the protonated form performs quasi-reversible redox transformations at bare SPCE and Sb/SPCEs in phosphate buffer solutions (pH 5.5±0.5) in the potential range of (−0.30)–(−0.75) V, where the antimony is not electroactive. Sb/SPCEs were studied electrochemically by cyclic voltammetry (CV) / electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and morphologically by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Cyclic voltammetry investigations revealed the dependence of the electrochemical performance of Sb/SPCEs on the degree of coverage of the substrate with the metal. The obtained CV, EIS, and SEM data are consistent. The lowest charge transfer resistance (Rct) value (6 Ω) was obtained at Sb/SPCE with the highest degree of antimony coverage. To investigate the electroanalytical performance of Sb/SPCEs, nickel (II) ions were utilized as a model analyte. A study of roughness factors and sensitivity towards nickel (II) ions for Sb/SPCEs using twotailed Pearson's criterion revealed a high degree of correlation between their electrochemical and electroanalytical properties. The results show that using NR as a redox probe can help controlling modification processes during the development of innovative antimony-containing sensors.This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Ural Federal University Program of Development within the Priority-2030 Program)

Crop varieties research and implications on closing yield gaps and diversifying incomes—Africa RISING experiences

United States Agency for International Developmen

Household survey evidence on domestic workers in Ethiopia

Whilst much scholarly attention of this nascent field of domestic service work focuses on protecting the rights and security of foreign/migrant domestic workers, the nature of domestic service work undertaken within national borders has escaped the attention of both researchers and public policy makers. Outlining the findings from a large household survey data in Ethiopia collected from seven major urban areas covering the period from 1994 to 2004, this paper departs from the usual focus on rights-based perspective and foreign migrant domestic service workers. Instead, the paper attempts to contribute to our understanding of the profile of domestic service providers, the significant drivers of participation in the provision of domestic services and the welfare of unpaid and paid domestic service workers in Ethiopia. In doing so, the paper contributes to the development of a greater evidence base, relevant for both researchers and public policy practitioners alike