Health Status
Ethiopia is listed under poorest health status related to other low-income countries, and the Somali region remains with extremely poor health status comparing to other regional states of the country or the national average (largely attributable to potentially preventable infectious disease and nutritional deficiencies).
Malaria, all types of TB, diarrhoea and malnutrition cases are leading causes of outpatients, admissions and deaths in the region.
Repeated and prolonged droughts for the last decade; low educational level (specially among women), inadequate access to clean water and sanitation facilities; and poor access to health service have also contributed to the burden of ill-health. The Crude Death Rate is estimated is to be 9.80 per 1000 population.
The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is estimated at 57.0 per 1,000 while the Child Mortality Rate (CMR) is 39.00 deaths per 1000. The maternal mortality (MMR) rate is estimated at 500-700 per 100 000 live births.
Health System Organization
HSDP I introduced a four-tier system for health service delivery system. A primary health care unit (PHCU), comprising one health centre and five satellite health posts, and then the district hospital, zonal/regional hospital and specialized referral hospital characterize this.
A PHC-unit is designed to serve 25,000 people, while a district and a zonal/regional hospital are each expected to serve 250,000 and 1,000,000 people respectively. The Health Sector has recently introduced an innovative health service delivery system through the implementation of the Health Service Extension Programme (HSEP) at the health posts and community levels.
Accelerated Expansion of Primary Health Services
strategy has also been endorsed as part of facilitating the implementation of
the HSEP. Furthermore, there will be a restructuring of the health service
delivery system in terms of the role of the health facilities and professional
mix of the staff during the implementation of HSDPIII.
Table 1: Expansion of Health Facilities
Type of Health
Facility 2002/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 07/08 Under construction 08/09
Referral/Specialized Hospital 1
Zonal Hospitals 2 2 2 2 2
District Hospital 3 4 4 4 4
Health centres 14 15 19 23 32 117
Health Stations 110 98 75 93
Health Posts 50 62 121 159 557 399
Access and Utilization of Health Services
The number of health facilities in the region is very limited and inadequate compared to the national standards. Currently, there are 6 hospitals, 32 health centers, and 557 health posts (including 83 health stations - Clinics). Based on these numbers of health facilities, Potential Health Service coverage is estimated at 65% (2008) - when calculated from Health centres, health stations and health posts. This varies substantially around woredas in the region.
Following tables show information’s related with the number of health facilities, primary health service coverage and utilization of formal health services.
