Outgoing Board Handed Over Responsibility

Following an election of new Executive Board members on a business meeting conducted during the 26^th Annual Conference of the Ethiopian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ESOG) on February 6, 2018, the outgoing board handed over its responsibility to the incoming board members. The hand over took place at ESOG’s project bureau on February 21, 2018.

According to the election results, Dr. Delayehu Bekele replaced Dr. Dereje Negussie as the president of ESOG. Dr. Mekdes Daba will serve as the Executive Board’s Honorary Secretary. Dr. Munir Kassa, Dr. Malede Birara and Dr. Fikremelekot Temesgen are elected members. Members who were reelected to serve one more term:  Dr. Mahlet Yigeremu will be serving as the vice president while Dr. Shiferaw Negash will remain a member of the Executive Board. 

ESOG has a long-standing culture well stipulated in its constitution that Executive Board members cannot serve any more than four years of two terms.

ESOG Conducted Series of QI Trainings

The Ethiopian Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ESOG) conducted the last Quality Improvement training in Woldiya, N. Wollo Zone on March 1-4,2018. The training was part of a series of trainings that have been conducted in Chiro, W. Harerge Zone, during January 22-24; in Assela, Arsi, during January 26-28, 2018; Ambo W. Shewa, during January 30- February 1, 2018; Debre Birhan, N. Shewa, during February 13-15, 2018.

The trainings have been administered by one of the projects currently running under ESOG in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) entitled- Implementing Quality Improvement (QI) in Reproductive Health (RH): Family Planning (FP) and Comprehensive Abortion Care (CAC) in Selected Hospitals and Health Centers of Amhara and Oromia, Ethiopia and De-stigmatization of Safe abortion among Health Care Workers in Ethiopia.

The trainings have been provided to a total of more than 130 medical doctors, nurses and midwives in 50 health centers under 10 hospitals in both regions. The trainings have been provided in Oromia Regional State under Robe General Hospital, Abomsa General Hospital, Ambo General Hospital, Enchini Primary Hospital, Chiro General Hospital and Gelemso General Hospital. In Amhara Regional State the trainings have been provided to health centers under Ararti Primary Hospital, Ataye Primary Hospital, Lalibella Primary Hospital, and Kobo Primary Hospital. 

After they were introduced to the concept of QI, participants were being trained on how to develop a problem statement, aim statement, change idea, measure of improvement, testing and improving sustaining and spreading change.  

In trainings that have been full of activities, participants had an opportunity to pick a problem in their respective health centers and develop a project that will be implemented and bring about change. Through a series of mentorship supports that will follow, the projects that have been developed during the trainings will be fully implemented in the facilities to a point of witnessing credible change in that particular area of concern. The experience drawn from the trainings regarding developing projects and implementing change ideas is expected to be part of the continuous planning in facilities eventually leading to quality improvement in services. 

Funded by David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the project has the objective of implementing integrated national QI in RH: CAC and FP among 60 health facilities in Amhara and Oromia Regional States. To that end the project also aims at selecting hospitals for the support on QI on CAC and FP; providing orientation training about mentoring and quality improvement to 16 Health Care Workers (HCWs) that serve as mentors (Midwives and obstetricians), the HCWs should have a training on family planning and CAC and conducting baseline assessment on quality of care among the selected health facilities.