The East African nation of Ethiopia is the world’s
second poorest country (after Burundi). The gross
national income per capita is just US$110 (2004,
World Bank). Ethiopia has a population of more than
77 million, of which women and children below the
age of 15 make up about 75 per cent.

Immunisation against vaccine-preventable diseases is
one of the major child survival and development goals
of the Ethiopian government’s health programme. This
programme is being implemented in all of Ethiopia’s
nine provinces.

Vaccine-preventable diseases include:

  • Measles
  • Polio
  • Whooping Cough (pertussis)
  • Diphtheria
  • Childhood tuberculosis (TB)
  • Tetanus

The availability of high-quality, potent vaccines is a key
factor to achieving safe and efficient immunisation.
However, major problems exist in four provinces:
For closer and most cost-effective distribution to health
facilities, large quantities of vaccines need to be stored
within or close to the regions that will be using them. A
shorter transportation distance will enhance the
possibility of keeping vaccines in good condition. The
province of Afar, for instance, has no storage facilities
and is a great distance from the capital, Addis Ababa

  

Standby power generators are needed as reserve
resources for cold rooms in order to maintain vaccines
at the correct temperature. This is vital for each of the
provinces requiring funding because the electric supply
is not guaranteed 24 hours a day.

Some existing cold rooms are placed in dilapidated or
unsuitably constructed storehouses. This results in
regular breakdown of the electrical cooling systems,
as they are exposed to high temperatures.

UNICEF needs your help to eliminate these problems
by upgrading the established cold-room storehouses
and by supplying new generators and cold rooms.

For an average of £25,000 per project, UNICEF can
set up or upgrade cold rooms and supply generators
in the four provinces where they are needed.

In the first year only, this equates to a cost of about
4p per child, after which the benefits will continue to
be appreciated for years to come.

For £10 worth of raffle tickets bought at the Blue
Ribbon Ball, you could help safely deliver vaccines
to 250 children in the first year alone, plus many
more in the years to come.

Today and for the future, this one-off cost will help the
children of Ethiopia to stay free from the major vaccine-preventable childhood diseases and look forward to a
happy, healthy future. Once all four provinces have
been funded, this will benefit 9.5 million women of
child-bearing age and almost 1.6 million children.