Maternal Health in Ethiopia
The RECTOR Project restores vital health care services for pregnant women
Global Perm NW Co-founder Dr. Rahel Nardos has worked for many years to improve women’s health in Ethiopia, including performing life-changing surgery for women with organ injuries due to childbirth, and then helping to establish a comprehensive training program for Ethiopian surgeons to perform pelvic repairs.
Dr. Nardos formed deep and trusting relationships with Mekelle University partners in Ethiopia, which formed the foundation for our involvement in other impactful projects in critical care and patient safety. Tragically, northern Ethiopia was struck by a civil war in 2020 leading to humanitarian crises, sexual violence, drastically decreased medical services, and reversal of previous gains in women’s health.
Needless to say, our projects in northern Ethiopia were interrupted. When peace was restored, we asked our partners how we could help.
They informed us that most rural hospitals were no longer operational, that nearly 70% of the healthcare infrastructure in the region was destroyed, that healthcare workers in some cases fled to save their lives–and those that remained worked heroically.
In 2023, our Mekelle University partners published a paper showing that the maternal mortality rate had increased by 4.5-fold from pre-war rates with 81.2% of the maternal deaths taking place outside of a healthcare facility.
In response, Global Perm NW acted. We worked with our partners at Mekelle University/Ayder Hospital to assist Abi Adi General Hospital, one of the rural hospitals in the war-stricken region, in a project called RecTOR (Recovery Through Outreach).
Global Perm NW provided strategic funding from February 2023 to February 2024, to support physicians from Ayder in providing emergency obstetrical care at Abi Adi while rebuilding maternal health services and recruiting permanent staff.
During the funding period, 11,382 pregnant women received care, leading to a year with no maternal deaths! 170 pregnant women survived an obstetric “near-miss” from obstetric complications that could have resulted in death if it wasn’t for the timely life-saving care they received. OBGYN services that were kick-started by the RecTOR project will continue into the future.
Women’s health care team at Abi Adi General Hospital
The success at Abi Adi quickly inspired similar projects at other rural hospitals, and stimulated support from other international donors. Ethiopian Lead for the RecTOR project, Dr. Hale Teka, has received national recognition within Ethiopia for this life-saving work. Global Perm NW is proud to have stepped in to help right from the beginning to play a catalytic role.
This work highlights how valuable it is in global health to build long-term relationships. Our relationship with Dr. Hale and his group, our knowledge of their heroic dedication, and our mutual trust and respect allowed this project to be conceived and to proceed quite quickly. The project also illustrates our belief that the knowledge and insight of the people on the ground should play a driving role in global health work.