Ethiopia | Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global Health

April 06, 2011

In Ethiopia: a celebrity whose message sticks out

John Donnelly

As seen on April 6th, 2011 on Global Health Magazine's blog.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- Celebrities have often latched on to global health causes in hopes of reaching broader audiences for the importance of the work, but not every celebrity succeeds. See Madonna's recent troubles. In Ethiopia, though, the Ministry of Health approached perhaps the country's most famous actor and asked him to do what does best - act - and the results have been impressive.

Earlier this year, Minister of Health Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus asked actor Fekadu Teklemariam if he would act in four public service announcements (PSA) to help educate people about the dangers of tuberculosis. Ethiopia was estimated to have more than 310,000 cases of TB in 2007.

Teklemariam, who was one of three artists named as Ethiopian of the Millennium in 2007, readily agreed, and the Ministry is now finishing the shooting and editing of the four 30- and 45-second spots.

March 22, 2011

Aspen Roundtable sparks candid discussion on tough global health issues

Sarah Lindsay

When Amie Batson, the deputy assistant administrator for global health at USAID, traveled to Ethiopia last year with other senior US officials, she said they prepared a brief on the Global Health Initiative for Health Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

But the tables turned in the meeting, she told an overflow audience yesterday at Aspen Institute’s Global Health Roundtable Series event titled, “Straight Talk: A Conversation about Tough Questions in Global Health”. The event was also sponsored by the Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global Health.

December 20, 2010

Lessons from the Field: Ethiopia’s health extension workers

Gwen Hopkins

Piling onto the bus, it almost felt like a grade school field trip - except that instead of classmates, I was surrounded by high-level delegates from 5 different ministries of health. It was day two of MLI’s four-day Leadership Collaborative Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and we were headed on a field visit to a rural Health Extension Worker Clinic.

The group included representatives from Senegal, Mali, Sierra Leone, Nepal, and Ethiopia – all five MLI countries – plus several senior staff from the Washington, DC offices, and me, MLI’s communications and website coordinator. As the bus wove its way down Bole Road, away from the hotel and out of Addis, I weighed the pros and cons of admitting I didn’t know what a health extension worker was.

December 09, 2010

Motivators: Ethiopia's Roman Tesfaye

John Donnelly

This is the fifth in a series of interviews with participants at the Ministerial Leadership Initiative for Global Health’s Learning Collaborative Forum in Addis Ababa on motivation – what motivates them and how do they motivate others. Roman Tesfaye is the director general of the Policy, Plan & Finance General Directorate in the Ministry of Health in Ethiopia.

Q: What motivates you?

A: When I did my Master’s degree, I had one lecturer from Ghana named Willy Addai. He was the most inspiring lecturer that I have ever experienced, honestly. He motivated people to live up to their own potential. He didn’t tell you what to do. He just showed us that you can use your potential to the fullest. He always said, `We were not created to eat, or play, or whatever. We were created to give service.’ You have to always think, even at home, even at the office, even every place, that if you are creative, you can do whatever you want to do. You have to discipline yourself, you have to see your purpose. If you apply this principle to all of your journeys, you will always be successful, and you will be the happiest one in the world.

December 06, 2010

Forum wrap-up, Part 2: Rosann Wisman

John Donnelly

At the end of MLI’s Learning Collaborative Forum, Rosann Wisman, MLI’s director, reflected on highlights from the four days of discussions. She spoke with John Donnelly about what was important, one big surprise, and what needs to happen next. This is the second of two interviews that look at the forum’s outcomes. MLI is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Starting Tuesday and running through this week, we also will start posting several more interviews in our Motivators series from the forum -- question-and-answer pieces about what motivates Ministry of Health leaders, and how they motivate others. Please check daily for updates.

Q: What are your main takeaways from the forum?

A: I’ve been thinking about why people seemed to connect and come together so well this week. There are a lot of opportunities for Ministry officials to go to conferences and to be with their peers, and yet I think there was a spirit, and a depth of communication and sharing, that went on that was quite unusual. Some of it was good facilitation, some of it could be the combination of people we brought together, but a big part was this wasn’t a random event. We’ve been building toward this kind of forum for the last two years, or more, and many of these individuals had met before in various settings. They have gotten to know the MLI headquarters team, and we’ve gotten to build credibility and trust with them. The combination of all of that made for this very intense learning experience.

Q: So is the lesson not to expect much in such situations until the people get to know each other well?

In Ethiopia: a celebrity whose message sticks out

Aspen Roundtable sparks candid discussion on tough global health issues

Lessons from the Field: Ethiopia’s health extension workers

Motivators: Ethiopia's Roman Tesfaye

Forum wrap-up, Part 2: Rosann Wisman

Keyword Search

Connect with Us

Categories

Blogs We Like

Our Writers

Contact Us