Category: Updates

Sue and Jamie Mumford have just returned from a very productive trip to Ethiopia. This is what they had to say about their trip:

“We have just returned from nearly 3 weeks in Ethiopia. We have visited every year since we started supporting Hospice Ethiopia 11 years ago (except from in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic). We spent time with the staff of Hospice Ethiopia visiting their patients and reviewing how the money we transferred to them last year (£55,682) was spent as well as consulting on their budget plan for 2023. These discussions are really important for Hospice Ethiopia UK to understand the successes and challenges that the hospice faces.

We enjoyed a 2 day visit to Jimma University Medical Center (south western Ethiopia) where a new palliative care (care for people with life-limiting illnesses) department has been established following training given by Hospice Ethiopia 10 months ago. We were impressed by the team who are already providing comprehensive inpatient, outpatient, and home care. For those patients living outside Jimma they provide a telephone follow up service. We were privileged to have a meeting with Dr Fetiya (who is clinical director of this 800 bed hospital serving a catchment of 15 million population) where we discussed the ongoing problems with obtaining oral morphine for controlling pain. At present Tramadol is the strongest pain killer available, this means many of their patients do not have their pain adequately controlled (see photo below of Sue and Jamie with the team at Jimma).

The second week of our visit we travelled to Debark in north western Ethiopia to help deliver a 5 day palliative care course. This is the first time such training has been delivered in a very rural area. Many of the villages can only be accessed on foot or on a mule which presents additional challenges. Some of the 19 delegates had not heard of palliative care but by the end of the week they could see the huge need for this type of care when less than 1% of patients receive curative treatment for cancer. Hospice Ethiopia will provide mentorship to help with the implantation of palliative care in the hospital and health centres.

It was inspiring to see the impact that Hospice Ethiopia is now having on the expanding provision of palliative care in Ethiopia. With an estimated population of 120 million, there is still a long way to go but it is highly rewarding to know that Hospice Ethiopia UK is making a difference for those who suffer so much as they approach the end of their life. We are grateful to all our donors that enable us to continue to support Hospice Ethiopia. The trustees do not claim any expenses for their visits to Ethiopia, so every penny donated goes to where it’s desperately needed.”