Deployment of 20 health workers and provision of basic medical care in the districts of Awra and Uwa.

	Project start date:	June 2007
	Duration:	Ongoing project
	No. of beneficiaries:	80.000
	Local partner organization:	APDA (Afar Pastoralist Development Association)
	Aim:	Provision of basic medical care, health education and modern midwifery

At the start of this project, the best students from our literacy programme received 6 months of initial training as health workers. A one-month additional training course is arranged annually in order to improve the know-how of our project staff on a continuous basis.

Health care is organized as a mobile service. Health workers are supplied with a health case (including a “delivery kit” for the modern birth process as well as medicines) and take up their work among their own clans.

They represent a direct link between the sick population and the hospital. The hands-on treatment of sick persons using medicine is as much part of their work as health education (using a generator and videos) and the organization of vaccination campaigns.

These activities in the districts of Awra and Uwa will be continued. On the other hand, we will focus increasingly on medical care for (expectant) mothers and their newborn babies and toddlers. For this purpose we will set up three waiting areas for mothers-to-be in three different villages, where women with high-risk pregnancies will be supervised by appropriately trained staff. If necessary, they will be transferred to the gynecological hospital in Mille. In order to render these measures sustainable, we intend to intensify our cooperation with the local government as well as with other international NGOs.

It is the objective of the project to achieve an improved general health status of the whole population and to prevent many types of disease through the introduction of simple, modern treatment methods. Similar projects in neighbouring regions have shown that significant positive results for health can be achieved just with the provision of health education and the introduction of simple methods (use of soap, mosquito nets, boiling water before use).

The target group are the more than 80.000 inhabitants of the districts of Awra and Uwa. Most of them lead an isolated, nomadic life and therefore have no other access to basic medical care. One nurse is currently responsible for 34.000 (!) people.

This project is co-financed by