The World Health Organization and Canada signed an agreement to ensure functional health services in the context of COVID-19 in Ethiopia. Through this agreement, Canada will provide WHO a grant amounting to 9.9 million Canadian dollars to strengthen the primary health care capacity to deliver essential health services, particularly for women, girls and vulnerable populations, while maintaining an effective response to COVID-19 to avoid additional preventable sickness and death among the Ethiopian population.
The WHO Representative to Ethiopia, Dr. Boureima Hama Sambo, thanked Canada for the available funding to support continuity of essential health services. He said, “The grant will not only strengthen the provision of quality, gender-responsive essential health services at primary care level but also boost health system resilience by building the capacity of regional and city health authorities to deal with current and future crises.”
This grant will benefit approximately 6.5 million Ethiopians in need, of which 50% are expected to be women. The remaining population of Ethiopia are indirect beneficiaries, benefiting from the efforts to strengthen both the federal and regional health systems, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services.