Ethiopia: MSF Expands Healthcare Response in Oromia's Wollega Zones Amid Critical Service Gaps

What the report says

Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders, has started a broader primary and secondary healthcare response in Ethiopia’s East and West Wollega zones in Oromia, according to Addis Standard via AllAfrica. The program is aimed at communities and internally displaced people in rural and hard-to-reach areas where conflict, displacement, disease outbreaks and damaged health infrastructure have reduced access to basic care.

The report says the intervention is meant to help fill major service gaps created by prolonged instability in western Oromia. It points to recurring malaria outbreaks, destruction and looting of clinics and hospitals, shortages of medicines and equipment, weak referral systems and financial barriers that make it harder for patients and health workers to reach care. MSF country director Dr. Sigrid Lamberg said the area has significant unmet health needs and that people often delay treatment or travel long distances.

MSF is operating mobile clinics to provide outpatient consultations, nutrition checks, health promotion and essential medicines. It is also supporting Begi Hospital in West Wollega with secondary-level care, beginning with maternity services and with plans to strengthen wider hospital functions over time. During the first month of operations in July, the mobile clinics treated 4,243 patients, while the hospital team assisted with 137 deliveries.

MSF said it is carrying out the work with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health, local authorities and communities, with the aim of reinforcing existing public health structures rather than creating separate services. The effort is significant because it addresses a long-running healthcare gap in a region where conflict and displacement have strained an already fragile system.