Ethiopia: “Many pregnant women have died due to lack of medicine and health services”

Asiya Abdela is a farmer in Arma Gunfi, a small village cut off because of the conflict. It lies deep in the West Wellega zone, over 700 kilometres away from the capital Addis Ababa. While waiting for her prenatal care appointment at the Gunfi primary health care centre, she told us how the conflict has impacted access to healthcare and the terrible consequences it has had on the community:

“In the past we have suffered a lot from lack of health services. Many pregnant women have died in our village due to lack of medicine and healthcare services,” she said.

The director of the health center in Arma Gunfi, Gemechis Emana added that, “the health center had been out of operation for a year and eleven months due to the conflict in the area, and as a result, local people have developed many health problems. We have been sending as many pregnant women to the Begi hospital as possible, using donkey carts to save their lives”.

Many communities live on either side of a frontline, or in places where there are ever-changing frontlines, meaning that frequent skirmishes make movements particularly difficult and dangerous.