ERCS/ NLRC Pneumonia Reduction Project Saving Lives

This is Alem Agegnehu a mother of two children and a 25 year old resident of Ebnat Woreda. We found her while making Enjera, Ethiopians staple made of Teff, a grain indigenous to Ethiopia. It is of course gaining popularity and worldwide acceptance for its nutritional uniqueness and gluten free content.

Located 690 kilometers north of the capital Addis Ababa, Ebnat District is among the implementation sites of ERCS’s Pneumonia Reduction Project financed by the Netherlands Red Cross Society.

The Project has recently introduced improved cook stoves to beneficiaries in the district which reduces smoke. Belaynesh is excited about the cook stoves called ‘Mirt’ in Amharic, literally meaning ‘the best’. She can’t hide her smile when talking about Mirt.

“Having this cook stove is really a privilege for me. The smoke from our traditional stoves used to hurt me and my children. My children used to be exposed to cough and other respiratory infections due to the smoke. I was also having problems with my eyes. Now I do not have to worry about that. I can make Enjera at any time of the day even if my baby is sleeping right beside me.”

Not only reduction of smoke and thereby eliminating consequential health problems including Pneumonia, the improved cook stoves are also meant to be efficient. Maritu Dagnew, another beneficiary of the project says, Mirt cook stove has reduced her firewood consumption to a great deal.

“With this cook stove I only use one third of the fire wood I used to consume before. I can also prepare sauce or stew on the smoke outlet which saves me energy and time. I am free from smoke which used to hurt not only my eyes but also my lung. My hands used to also burn from the flames.”

So, far 171 cook stoves have been distributed for household with under-five year old children and this number is expected grow by 30 fold shortly as over 2500 households have been registered for it.

Yet, Interventions of the Pneumonia Reduction Project are not limited to introduction of cook stoves only. Health Promotion, equipment donation, vaccination support and Community sensitization are among the major intrusions that aim at increasing the health consciousness of the community and reduction of mortality and morbidity due to Pneumonia and Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) among children under 5 years of age.

We found Alemtsehay Health Extension Worker of while teaching the community in a monthly community gathering that incorporates cooking demonstrations for mothers.

“We use the already established community, public and religious gatherings as a platform to sensitize the community. We teach them about health and sanitation related issues. They used to be reluctant at first but the adoption rate and health seeking behavior is now on the rise.”

The health promotion activities have also brought practical changes into the lives of the community. Alemtsehay says mothers immediately bring their children to health posts whenever they develop symptoms. Members of the community are now building separate kitchens and also have their own latrines.

“This is attributed to the interventions of the project and the hard work of the health extension workers of the area.” says Alebel Baidge, ERCS Pneumonia Reduction Project Coordinator in the Amhara Region where two selected sites of the Pneumonia Project are found.

He indicates 4201 children were diagnosed and treated for pneumonia where 110 of them were referred to other health facilities.

According to the Coordinator, the project is working to reach 56,000 thousand primary beneficiaries every year and capacity building trainings were given to health workers and volunteers in the two districts to enhance awareness and increase efficacy.

Commenced in 2017 the Pneumonia Mortality Reduction Project has two remaining years of execution.