Ayder Hospital Explained

Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital is the largest hospital in Mekele in the Tigray Region and the second largest hospital in Ethiopia.

Description and history

Located in Mekele,^[1] the teaching hospital is the largest hospital in the Tigray Region^[2] and the second largest hospital in Ethiopia.^[3] It is one of only a few referral hospitals in Ethiopia.

The hospital opened in 2008 and serves a population of over 8 million people. The hospital's services include: newborn care,^[4] dialysis, and cancer care. It is the only one in the Tigray Region with surgery facilities^[5] and, in 2015, became the only hospital with magnetic resonance imaging facilities.

In 2022, the hospital had an estimate of 3,600 staff with Kibrom Gebreselassie as the Chief Executive Director.In 2020, during the Tigray War, the hospital's staff struggled to keep up with the influx of trauma patients and was running low in surgical supplies.^[6] In 2022, over 60 patients with kidney disease died due to lack of medical supplies and 81 patients died due to a lack of medical oxygen.^[7] The hospital remained short of medical supplies in January 2023, after the war ended.^[8]

See also

• Healthcare in Ethiopia
• List of hospitals in Ethiopia

External links

• College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University

Notes and References

1. News: Endeshaw . Dawit . 2023-07-10 . Hunger haunts Ethiopia's Tigray region after years of war . en . Reuters . 2023-08-23.
2. News: Davies . Lizzy . 2022-09-23 . ‘Humanitarian crime’: fighting cuts off insulin supply in Tigray . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-08-23 . 0261-3077.
3. Ekanem PE, Nyaga ACK, Imbusi EA, et al. Neuroimaging patterns of anatomical features in pediatric cerebral palsy patients at Ayder hospital, Mekelle, Ethiopia. PloS one. 2020;15(11):e0241436. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0241436
4. Web site: 2022-06-04 . Health crisis looms in Tigray as main hospital closes . 2023-08-23 . The East African . en.
5. News: Daniel . Ari . 14 October 2022 . 'Where is humanity?' ask the helpless doctors of Ethiopia's embattled Tigray region . .
6. Web site: Mekelle hospitals struggling to care for wounded, supplies low . 2023-08-23 . www.aljazeera.com . en.
7. Web site: 2022-04-13 . Hospital in Ethiopia’s Tigray struggles to treat patients . 2023-08-23 . KSNT 27 News . en-US.
8. News: Kirstos . Mihret G . 3 Jan 2023 . News: Tigray’s biggest hospital remains short of medical supply despite peace deal, pleads for laboratory reagents . .