Meet the Young Women Leading the Way in Ethiopia’s TB Fight

January 6, 2016

(New Scientist) – This is the future of healthcare, Ethiopian-style. In a country where 22 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line, and there are just three doctors for every 100,000 people – compared with 30 or 40 in Europe – the government has pioneered a strategy that would be unthinkable in most developed countries. More than 40,000 women – some as young as 16 – have been recruited to carry out tasks normally only done by doctors and nurses: give childhood vaccinations, provide antenatal care, screen for deadly diseases and supervise their treatment.