Ethiopia Awassa
Doctors practicing in Awassa are being trained to become pediatric surgeons – a specialization that did not exist here until recently.
Since 2017, the Children's Surgery Foundation has been involved in Awassa, Ethiopia.
Our goal is to sustainably improve pediatric surgical care in a region where millions of children lack access to specialized procedures.
The focus of our work is to establish an independent pediatric surgery department at Hawassa University Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (HUCSH). The hospital is located approximately 280 kilometers south of Addis Ababa and serves a catchment area of about 18 million people. Together with Ethiopian pediatric surgeon Dr. Wondmagegn Gizaw, we are developing structures there that will ensure high-quality surgical care for children in the long term.
In addition to direct support for complex operations, we place particular emphasis on training. Together with Dr. Gizaw, we train young doctors in pediatric surgery.
Wir reisen um die Welt und bringen Chirurgen die Best Practices für Patienten mit speziellen Bedürfnissen bei angeborenen Fehlbildungen bei.
Around 137 million people live in Ethiopia – almost half of them are under 14 years old. However, there are very few specialized pediatric surgeons in the entire country (according to estimates from expert circles, between 20 and 30) for the medical care of children. Many children who urgently need an operation are treated by general surgeons – or receive no help at all.
An intervention can cost up to 50 times as much as the average annual income of a household of €200. There is no state health insurance, and many families cannot afford the costs. Thus, life-saving operations remain out of reach for countless children.
The consequences are dramatic: Many children have to live with disabilities for the rest of their lives – or die early. The "under-5 mortality rate" is high in Ethiopia. According to rough estimates, about 12% of all deaths of children under 5 years are due to diseases that could be treated surgically.
Together with Dr. Gizaw, we are therefore training young doctors to become pediatric surgeons. They will pass on their knowledge and train new specialists themselves. This creates a sustainable system that has a long-term effect. As an international child welfare organization, we achieve more than just healing individual children:
We strengthen local competence, promote self-reliance, and enable the continuous professional development of local medical personnel.
The humanitarian situation in Ethiopia has been significantly shaped by the conflict in the Tigray region in recent years. The armed conflict between the central government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front led to severe fighting between 2020 and 2022 with far-reaching consequences for the civilian population.
Although the peace agreement signed in Pretoria in November 2022 officially ended the large-scale hostilities, the effects are still noticeable today. Many health facilities were damaged or destroyed, medical care was temporarily hardly accessible, and countless families had to leave their homes. Children and people with congenital malformations particularly suffer from the limited access to specialized surgical treatment.
The ongoing economic and infrastructural challenges make reconstruction even more difficult.
It is all the more important to sustainably strengthen local medical professionals, share knowledge, and build long-term partnerships – so that urgently needed care remains secured even in times of crisis.
Together we can make a big difference!
With your support, we don't just operate on children – we give them the chance for a healthy future.