Health officer Haben Haleform begins his morning by calling his co-workers: a midwife, a psychiatrist and a fellow health officer. He checks that everybody is feeling well before the Tigray-based team gathers and sets out in their truck for one of the camps housing those displaced by the civil war that took place in Ethiopia from 2020 to 2022.
Each day, this mobile medical team travels to a different camp to provide free essential medical care, health education and medications. The team’s shared experiences through the past few challenging years connect them to each other and their patients.
“Since we are all displaced and living alongside them, we can easily share our problems without hiding anything,” says Haleform, who was imprisoned during the conflict.
“It is unspeakable,” Haleform says of the war. “For three months, there was a time that I was unable to go out from my home. You would just hear gunshots and death from here and there.”
FHI 360 is helping to address the urgent need for humanitarian services in Tigray by operating three mobile medical units through the Integrated Services for Humanitarian Implementation – Ethiopia project, which is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Accessible care for all ages
The versatile medical unit can help patients manage a range of illnesses, including mental health concerns, and when more specialized care is needed, the providers refer patients to area hospitals. The team’s midwife provides health information, including breastfeeding education, during pregnancy and for new mothers, checks for malnutrition, and dispenses vitamins and nutrients that are essential to a healthy pregnancy. The most common ailments Haleform treats are upper respiratory tract infections and skin and eye diseases.
Haleform explains, “When we look at the diseases, the diseases are simple. With proper treatment, they are easily curable. … So, the mobile health team has a huge benefit. If [community members] catch a cold, instead of going to hospital, they can come here to us and get service.”
Mhert, who is 75 years old, has come to the clinic for eye medication and treatment of indigestion. She says she was forced from her home three years ago and is managing multiple chronic conditions. At a previous check-up, the providers suggested she reduce her salt intake, and this has helped her health, she explains.
“They welcome me well,” Mhert says. “They check my vital signs. If they have [medicine], they give [it to] me.”
The medical team is preferable to the hospital not only because of the cost, Haleform says, but also because the violence experienced by survivors has caused mental health conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The need to wait in a crowd may prevent people from seeking medical help.
Seeing the whole person
Senay Hailu, a psychiatrist in the mobile medical unit, sees five to 10 patients per day, most often for PTSD, depression and acute stress. Hailu looks for possible mental health issues even when people arrive with a physical concern, he says, because poor physical health often leads to stress and depression – and vice versa.
“If someone is not physically well, most probably, the patient or the client will develop mental health problems,” Hailu explains.
“When I come across clients with such cases, I tend to address their anxiety issues, depression issues, stress issues, and I also advise them on how to [manage] it and how to look forward for the future,” he says.
Abadit, who fled her home three years ago, is working to build that better future. She and her 5-month-old daughter have been receiving care from the medical unit. She says she tries to implement the practices that she learns from the health providers, including breastfeeding and handwashing, and hopes for a better life for her daughter.
“I want my daughter to be educated,” Abadit states. “The hope I have is, if she is educated, she can develop her country.”
