We are delighted that Ephrem, Director of Hospice Ethiopia has been awarded his doctorate from the University of South Africa. He is the FIRST Ethiopian to have been awarded a doctorate in palliative care in the country. He studied ‘breaking bad news’ and identified the preferences of patients and individuals in how they would like to be informed of their condition when diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. He went on to develop a culturally sensitive guideline for breaking bad news in the palliative care setting in Ethiopia.
He commented “This represents a life time achievement through contributing to palliative care services in Ethiopia. The results will significantly contribute to Ethiopian patient care and treatment practice and decisions when life-threatening illness is diagnosed. Hopefully the results will be adapted for use in other African palliative care settings.”
Dr Barbro Norrstrom (a Swedish oncologist and palliative care specialist) summed up Ephrem’s achievement by saying “I’m so incredibly impressed by Ephrem, his great capacity, dedication, compassion for palliative care and the implications for all Ethiopians in need of palliative care, be it cancer be it other severe end of life illnesses, as well as the overall activities to get palliative care on the agenda, governmental, educational from top to bottom.”
Well done Ephrem!
In addition we wish to welcome Nurse Abenezer Tilahun, who has recently started work at Hospice Ethiopia. He was born in Addis Adaba and gained his Batchelors degree in Nursing at Debre Birhan University in 2017, followed by his Masters degree in Public Health at Yanet Health College in 2022. He has over 5 years clinical experience during which time he worked at the Armed Force Comprehensive and Specialised Hospital, the largest military hospital in Ethiopia. His induction at Hospice Ethiopia has been organised by Ephrem and he is currently working alongside Sr Filagot and Sr Kalkidan. He says “I am glad to be part of Hospice Ethiopia and the mission it stands for”.
Hospice Ethiopia UK 