Kebede Meskerem Aleka, Beyene Andualem, Kedir Nurhusen, Abegaz Bethelhem, Friebel Rocco
Global Surgery Policy Unit, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.
Department of Surgery, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Confl Health. 2023 Apr 15;17(1):19. doi: 10.1186/s13031-023-00515-y.
The ongoing violent conflict in Northern Ethiopia has caused displacement, death, and destruction. Health services infrastructure became one of the primary victims of the war, leaving millions unable to access essential surgical health services at a time when demand for surgical interventions is on the rise. Rehabilitating surgical services was identified as a priority by the federal government, regional health bureaus, and humanitarian organizations, forming an integral part in rebuilding communities after war. Under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Health of Ethiopia, a hospital twinning program between providers in non-conflict and conflict affected areas was first introduced in December 2021, now including 13 active partnerships. The program builds on a previous best practice gained from the Ethiopian Hospital Alliance for Quality to strengthen local health care providers in regaining capabilities to serve local populations. Field experience of two hospital twinning projects have shown significant scope of organizational peer support at times of crisis, successfully enabling conflict-afflicted hospitals to regain the capacity necessary to re-introduce surgical services. While overcoming challenges such as lack of basic supplies including electricity and blood may be required to further increase the scope of this program in Northern Ethiopia, relative success highlights important lessons for similar approaches in areas affected by conflict, or natural disasters.
埃塞俄比亚北部持续的暴力冲突已导致人们流离失所、死亡和家园被毁。医疗卫生服务基础设施成为了这场战争的主要受害者之一，在外科手术干预需求不断上升之际，数百万人无法获得基本的外科医疗服务。恢复外科手术服务被联邦政府、地区卫生局和人道主义组织确定为优先事项，是战后社区重建不可或缺的一部分。在埃塞俄比亚联邦卫生部的支持下，2021年12月首次推出了非冲突地区与受冲突影响地区医疗机构之间的医院结对项目，目前有13个正在开展的合作关系。该项目借鉴了埃塞俄比亚医院质量联盟先前的最佳实践经验，以增强当地医疗服务提供者为当地居民提供服务的能力。两个医院结对项目的实地经验表明，在危机时期组织层面的同行支持具有很大作用，成功帮助受冲突影响的医院恢复了重新提供外科手术服务所需的能力。尽管在埃塞俄比亚北部进一步扩大该项目范围可能需要克服诸如电力和血液等基本物资短缺等挑战，但相对的成功为受冲突或自然灾害影响地区的类似做法提供了重要经验教训。
