The influence of natural environment on shaping the original culture of Ethiopia

The surrounding in a natural environment – the lay of the land, climate, soil and even plants or animals living at certain area, all that may deeply influence our behavior, though we rarely realize that. It happens that behavior of local communities is determined so much that despite living in neighboring areas they differ a lot. Obviously people living at the seaside differ in behavior and culture, and even diet, from those living in the mountains or on the desert. This fascinating phenomena of nature influences culture, history, religion, agriculture and many more domains of human life I would like to present using a remarkable example of Ethiopia. This country is not very well known. Tourism is here insignificant due to the political and economical situation. Ethiopia is usually associated with the emperor Hajle Sellasje I and great long-distance runners and famine. These stereotypes became established through the few publications on Ethiopia that have appeared in Poland. That’s why as an Ethiopian whose second motherland is Poland I would like to describe the country of my original to Polish readers.The surrounding in a natural environment – the lay of the land, climate, soil and even plants or animals living at certain area, all that may deeply influence our behavior, though we rarely realize that. It happens that behavior of local communities is determined so much that despite living in neighboring areas they differ a lot. Obviously people living at the seaside differ in behavior and culture, and even diet, from those living in the mountains or on the desert. This fascinating phenomena of nature influences culture, history, religion, agriculture and many more domains of human life I would like to present using a remarkable example of Ethiopia. This country is not very well known. Tourism is here insignificant due to the political and economical situation. Ethiopia is usually associated with the emperor Hajle Sellasje I and great long-distance runners and famine. These stereotypes became established through the few publications on Ethiopia that have appeared in Poland. That’s why as an Ethiopian whose second motherland is Poland I would like to describe the country of my original to Polish readers

Eset - wielofunkcyjna roślina Etiopii i terminologia związana z nią

The aim of this article is to present the Ethiopian plant ? Eset. Due to its many functions there is a vast terminology related to its cultivation, processing and application in everyday life. The first part, after the introduction explains how Eset is farmed and what are the names of parts of this plant and stages of its development. Next part shows how Eset serves as food in Ethiopia and what are the names of dishes based on Eset in Amharic language. Eset can also be used to produce some commodities ? strings, mattresses, mats and bowls. All vocabulary collected in this research is a result of author?s homeland education and personal communication with numerous informants who grow Eset. The important trait of Eset is an intergenerational tradition of its cultivation. The aim of this article is to present the Ethiopian plant ? Eset. Due to its many functions there is a vast terminology related to its cultivation, processing and application in everyday life. The first part, after the introduction explains how Eset is farmed and what are the names of parts of this plant and stages of its development. Next part shows how Eset serves as food in Ethiopia and what are the names of dishes based on Eset in Amharic language. Eset can also be used to produce some commodities ? strings, mattresses, mats and bowls. All vocabulary collected in this research is a result of author?s homeland education and personal communication with numerous informants who grow Eset. The important trait of Eset is an intergenerational tradition of its cultivation.

Geneza konfliktu etiopsko-erytrejskiego

The source of Ethio-Eritrean conflict was Italian colonization of Eritrea officially in 1890. Eritrea was an integral part of Ethiopia and it was very attractive for foreign intervention because of being situated on the coast of the Red Sea. It was treated as a military base to attack and occupy whole Ethiopia. In 1896 and in 1935-1936, Eritreans were forced to fratricidal fights. After Italian defeat during WWII in 1941 Eritrea fell under British administration and different parties were formed at the time. On the basis of the United Nations’ resolution in 1952, the Ethiopian-Eritrean Federation came into being which meant discrimination and emigration for many Eritreans. Lastly in 1962, Eritrea became a province of Ethiopia which led to a bloody war lasting 30 years. During the war separation feeling became very strong among Eritreans and their hate to Ethiopians increased because of their persecution by the Ethiopian government. In 1991 Eritrea won the war and in 1993 became a state. Then, a conflict between two former friends that means the leader of Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the later Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Melese Zenawi and the President of Eritrea Issayas Afewerki brought a new bloody war in 1998

Healthcare Access and Quality Index based on mortality from causes amenable to personal health care in 195 countries and territories, 1990-2015 : a novel analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Background National levels of personal health-care access and quality can be approximated by measuring mortality rates from causes that should not be fatal in the presence of effective medical care (ie, amenable mortality). Previous analyses of mortality amenable to health care only focused on high-income countries and faced several methodological challenges. In the present analysis, we use the highly standardised cause of death and risk factor estimates generated through the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) to improve and expand the quantification of personal health-care access and quality for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2015. Methods We mapped the most widely used list of causes amenable to personal health care developed by Nolte and McKee to 32 GBD causes. We accounted for variations in cause of death certification and misclassifications through the extensive data standardisation processes and redistribution algorithms developed for GBD. To isolate the effects of personal health-care access and quality, we risk-standardised cause-specific mortality rates for each geography-year by removing the joint effects of local environmental and behavioural risks, and adding back the global levels of risk exposure as estimated for GBD 2015. We employed principal component analysis to create a single, interpretable summary measure-the Healthcare Quality and Access (HAQ) Index-on a scale of 0 to 100. The HAQ Index showed strong convergence validity as compared with other health-system indicators, including health expenditure per capita (r= 0.88), an index of 11 universal health coverage interventions (r= 0.83), and human resources for health per 1000 (r= 0.77). We used free disposal hull analysis with bootstrapping to produce a frontier based on the relationship between the HAQ Index and the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a measure of overall development consisting of income per capita, average years of education, and total fertility rates. This frontier allowed us to better quantify the maximum levels of personal health-care access and quality achieved across the development spectrum, and pinpoint geographies where gaps between observed and potential levels have narrowed or widened over time. Findings Between 1990 and 2015, nearly all countries and territories saw their HAQ Index values improve; nonetheless, the difference between the highest and lowest observed HAQ Index was larger in 2015 than in 1990, ranging from 28.6 to 94.6. Of 195 geographies, 167 had statistically significant increases in HAQ Index levels since 1990, with South Korea, Turkey, Peru, China, and the Maldives recording among the largest gains by 2015. Performance on the HAQ Index and individual causes showed distinct patterns by region and level of development, yet substantial heterogeneities emerged for several causes, including cancers in highest-SDI countries; chronic kidney disease, diabetes, diarrhoeal diseases, and lower respiratory infections among middle-SDI countries; and measles and tetanus among lowest-SDI countries. While the global HAQ Index average rose from 40.7 (95% uncertainty interval, 39.0-42.8) in 1990 to 53.7 (52.2-55.4) in 2015, far less progress occurred in narrowing the gap between observed HAQ Index values and maximum levels achieved; at the global level, the difference between the observed and frontier HAQ Index only decreased from 21.2 in 1990 to 20.1 in 2015. If every country and territory had achieved the highest observed HAQ Index by their corresponding level of SDI, the global average would have been 73.8 in 2015. Several countries, particularly in eastern and western sub-Saharan Africa, reached HAQ Index values similar to or beyond their development levels, whereas others, namely in southern sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and south Asia, lagged behind what geographies of similar development attained between 1990 and 2015. Interpretation This novel extension of the GBD Study shows the untapped potential for personal health-care access and quality improvement across the development spectrum. Amid substantive advances in personal health care at the national level, heterogeneous patterns for individual causes in given countries or territories suggest that few places have consistently achieved optimal health-care access and quality across health-system functions and therapeutic areas. This is especially evident in middle-SDI countries, many of which have recently undergone or are currently experiencing epidemiological transitions. The HAQ Index, if paired with other measures of health-systemcharacteristics such as intervention coverage, could provide a robust avenue for tracking progress on universal health coverage and identifying local priorities for strengthening personal health-care quality and access throughout the world. Copyright (C) The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Podstawy piśmiennictwa w Etiopii

Podstawy piśmiennictwa w Etiopi

Healthcare access and quality index based on mortality from causes amenable to personal health care in 195 countries and territories, 1990-2015: A novel analysis from the global burden of disease study 2015

Background National levels of personal health-care access and quality can be approximated by measuring mortality rates from causes that should not be fatal in the presence of effective medical care (ie, amenable mortality). Previous analyses of mortality amenable to health care only focused on high-income countries and faced several methodological challenges. In the present analysis, we use the highly standardised cause of death and risk factor estimates generated through the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) to improve and expand the quantification of personal health-care access and quality for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2015. Methods We mapped the most widely used list of causes amenable to personal health care developed by Nolte and McKee to 32 GBD causes. We accounted for variations in cause of death certification and misclassifications through the extensive data standardisation processes and redistribution algorithms developed for GBD. To isolate the effects of personal health-care access and quality, we risk-standardised cause-specific mortality rates for each geography-year by removing the joint effects of local environmental and behavioural risks, and adding back the global levels of risk exposure as estimated for GBD 2015. We employed principal component analysis to create a single, interpretable summary measure-the Healthcare Quality and Access (HAQ) Index-on a scale of 0 to 100. The HAQ Index showed strong convergence validity as compared with other health-system indicators, including health expenditure per capita (r=0·88), an index of 11 universal health coverage interventions (r=0·83), and human resources for health per 1000 (r=0·77). We used free disposal hull analysis with bootstrapping to produce a frontier based on the relationship between the HAQ Index and the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a measure of overall development consisting of income per capita, average years of education, and total fertility rates. This frontier allowed us to better quantify the maximum levels of personal health-care access and quality achieved across the development spectrum, and pinpoint geographies where gaps between observed and potential levels have narrowed or widened over time. Findings Between 1990 and 2015, nearly all countries and territories saw their HAQ Index values improve; nonetheless, the difference between the highest and lowest observed HAQ Index was larger in 2015 than in 1990, ranging from 28·6 to 94·6. Of 195 geographies, 167 had statistically significant increases in HAQ Index levels since 1990, with South Korea, Turkey, Peru, China, and the Maldives recording among the largest gains by 2015. Performance on the HAQ Index and individual causes showed distinct patterns by region and level of development, yet substantial heterogeneities emerged for several causes, including cancers in highest-SDI countries; chronic kidney disease, diabetes, diarrhoeal diseases, and lower respiratory infections among middle-SDI countries; and measles and tetanus among lowest-SDI countries. While the global HAQ Index average rose from 40·7 (95% uncertainty interval, 39·0-42·8) in 1990 to 53·7 (52·2-55·4) in 2015, far less progress occurred in narrowing the gap between observed HAQ Index values and maximum levels achieved; at the global level, the difference between the observed and frontier HAQ Index only decreased from 21·2 in 1990 to 20·1 in 2015. If every country and territory had achieved the highest observed HAQ Index by their corresponding level of SDI, the global average would have been 73·8 in 2015. Several countries, particularly in eastern and western sub-Saharan Africa, reached HAQ Index values similar to or beyond their development levels, whereas others, namely in southern sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and south Asia, lagged behind what geographies of similar development attained between 1990 and 2015. Interpretation This novel extension of the GBD Study shows the untapped potential for personal health-care access and quality improvement across the development spectrum. Amid substantive advances in personal health care at the national level, heterogeneous patterns for individual causes in given countries or territories suggest that few places have consistently achieved optimal health-care access and quality across health-system functions and therapeutic areas. This is especially evident in middle-SDI countries, many of which have recently undergone or are currently experiencing epidemiological transitions. The HAQ Index, if paired with other measures of health-system characteristics such as intervention coverage, could provide a robust avenue for tracking progress on universal health coverage and identifying local priorities for strengthening personal health-care quality and access throughout the world. Copyright © The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd