The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ethiopia recently completed a successful three-year program to identify, treat, and cure people living with tuberculosis (TB) in urban areas in Ethiopia,  while increasing the capacity of local health organizations to serve TB patients.  USAID/Ethiopia’s $4 million (over 215 million Birr) Urban TB Local Organizations Network activity worked in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa City Administration, Dire Dawa City Administration, the Harari Regional Health Bureau, and seven community-based organizations.

Over the past three years, this efficient and effective USAID TB treatment activity reached over 235,000 people in urban areas of Ethiopia with TB testing and other services.  As a direct result of the project, over 14,300 people were tested for and diagnosed with TB, treated, and completely cured of the disease.  USAID’s Urban TB Local Organizations Network activity worked alongside USAID’s ongoing Eliminate TB project, which is striving to end TB in Ethiopia entirely by 2030.

The tuberculosis bacteria is one of the most destructive pathogens on the planet.  In Ethiopia, TB killed over 19,000 people in 2022, which is more than two deaths every hour.  The WHO estimates that about 30 percent of TB cases go undetected by the healthcare system in Ethiopia, resulting in unnecessary deaths.  Last year, approximately 145,000 Ethiopians contracted TB.

At the closeout event, USAID/Ethiopia Health Office Director Jonathan Ross joined the Ministry of Health’s Senior Advisor, Dr. Kebede Worku, as they celebrated the work of the three-year-long project.  More than 2.3 million lives have been saved since the United States Government began investing in the fight to end tuberculosis in Ethiopia two decades ago.

In 2022 alone, USAID provided more than $1.8 billion dollars in development and humanitarian aid to Ethiopia.  

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia.