The Ethiopian government wants a uniform health evaluation process to be introduced in all of Africa to help reduce child deaths. The idea will be recommended during an upcoming African Child Survival Conference in Ethiopia on January 16 through 18.

One goal of the United Nation's millennium development project is to reduce the child mortality rate in sub-Saharan Africa by two-thirds by 2015. So far the reduction has been 39%. Ethiopia stands out because it already has reached a 60% reduction in the mortality rate of children under five years old. The country is hosting a conference on child survival and will suggest ways to achieve a two-thirds goal.

USAID administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah, whose agency is a partner with the Ethiopian government on the project, said he hopes all African countries will adopt a scorecard that publicly collects and reports health data.

The scorecard consists of three components: input indicators that relate to policy issues and availability of resources; process indicators;  impact and outcome indicators that outline the data results.

Ethiopia’s good results on improving health care coincide with a decade of rapid economic growth. Ethiopia also has received considerable financial aid from the West. USAID alone spent $985 million in the last three years in East African countries. But USAID is cutting the budget to Ethiopia by more than 50 percent for 2013.

From Voice of America