Health Policy Debate

The budget has significantly increased in absolute terms, and we are utilizing alternative financing like health insurance and private sector partnerships.

• Increased the national health budget from 59 billion to 143 billion birr.

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• Mobilizing over 20 billion birr through the expansion of the health insurance system.

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• Working with the private sector and implementing alternative financing mechanisms to bridge budget gaps.

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Local production has increased, and program medicines are widely available, though we acknowledge shortages in specific areas like cancer drugs due to global supply issues.

• Increased local medicine production capacity from 8% to over 40%.

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• Spending over 50 billion birr annually to import medicines.

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• Achieved over 95% accessibility for program medicines like HIV, vaccines, TB, and malaria.

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We have successfully controlled major outbreaks like COVID-19 and Marburg, and are actively reducing malaria cases which spiked due to climate change.

• Successfully controlled COVID-19 and Marburg virus outbreaks quickly, earning international recognition.

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• Malaria increased due to global climate change and community negligence, but cases have now been significantly reduced and controlled in most areas.

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We support the private sector with land and tax reductions, but we are also taking regulatory actions against facilities that overcharge.

• Over 28,000 private health facilities are currently operating in the country.

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• Providing land for private facilities, especially in Addis Ababa, and reducing taxes on imported medical equipment.

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• Taking regulatory measures and closing down private facilities that charge exaggerated prices.

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We have hired many professionals and plan to hire all currently unemployed doctors in the next five years, while also training specialists.

• Trained and hired over 150,000 health professionals in the last five years.

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• Pledges to hire all currently unemployed doctors in the next five years.

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• Training over 2,000 medical specialists annually.

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We have implemented salary adjustments, started social health insurance, and are expanding private wings and community pharmacies to improve their income and working conditions.

• Started implementing social health insurance for health professionals this year.

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• Made recent salary adjustments and improved duty pay for health workers.

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• Expanding private wings in government hospitals and opened over 850 community pharmacies.

We will encourage greater private sector involvement through incentives like free land and tax cuts, while the government focuses on policy and regulation.

• The private sector will be allowed to engage more broadly in the health sector.

• Will provide free land to the private sector for building health facilities.

• Will implement tax and tariff reductions on imported medical equipment.

We will allocate 15% of the budget to health.

• Pledges to allocate 15% of the national budget to the health sector.

We will fund this by stopping the war and reallocating military expenses to the health sector.

• Will reduce government expenses by stopping the war and reallocating military budgets to health.

• Will strengthen and expand the health insurance system.

We will improve health infrastructure through coordinated efforts between the government and private sector to ensure active and affordable services.

• Will improve health infrastructure including health posts, centers, hospitals, and labs.

• Both government and private sectors will work in coordination to fulfill infrastructure needs.

We will boost local production through private sector incentives and reduce taxes on imported medicines.

• Will encourage local production of medicines by providing better incentives to the private sector.

• Will reduce taxes on imported medicines to make them more accessible to the public.

We will implement a reliable digital e-health system and enforce strict government regulations to ensure accurate reporting and data protection.

• Will enforce strict regulations to ensure accurate health data reporting from both private and public institutions.

• Will expand digitalization and e-health technologies to create a reliable data management system.

We will fund the salary increase by stopping the war, preventing corruption, and reducing unnecessary government expenses.

• Pledges to increase doctors' salaries to $500.

• Will fund the increase by stopping the war, preventing corruption, and cutting unnecessary expenses.

We will provide non-salary benefits like free healthcare for their families, housing, and transport, and allow them to earn extra income through private wings.

• Will respect professionals' time freedom, allowing them to work in private wings for additional income.

• Will provide free healthcare services for health professionals and their families.

• Will facilitate housing and transportation mechanisms through public-private partnerships.

We will balance this by making the government responsible for preventive care, which reduces the need for curative care, and by implementing a citizen-led health insurance.

• Preventive and community health services will be primarily the government's responsibility.

• Curative services will be provided through a coordinated effort between the government and private sector.

• Proper preventive care will significantly reduce the number of citizens needing expensive curative care.

Our system will be managed directly by the community, like traditional Iddir, making it more efficient and ensuring medicine availability without out-of-pocket costs.

• The insurance system will be managed by citizens themselves through community structures like Iddir, rather than the government.

• Will ensure citizens receive necessary medicines and services without paying out-of-pocket at health facilities.

We view health holistically and will implement a coordinated administration system where effective prevention naturally reduces the burden on curative care.

• Will implement a coordinated health administration system integrating health with agriculture, water, and environment.

We will incrementally increase the budget to reach the WHO recommendation of 15% by the end of our five-year term.

• Pledges to incrementally increase the health budget to reach the WHO recommendation of 15% within five years.

We will fund this by stopping the war to save money and boosting agricultural productivity to lower living costs, effectively increasing citizens' purchasing power.

• Will stop the war to save the budget currently spent on conflict.

• Will boost agricultural productivity and investment to lower market prices and increase citizens' real income.

We believe health is a basic human right. We will achieve this through fair wealth distribution and economic policy reforms, learning from successful social democratic nations.

• Will ensure fair distribution of national wealth to provide equal basic services like health and education.

• Will implement economic policy reforms to build the necessary capacity for equal service delivery.

We will integrate health, agriculture, and education workers at the family level, reduce workloads, and improve their purchasing power by stabilizing the economy.

• Will implement a family-based, coordinated service delivery integrating health, agriculture, and education extension workers.

• Will improve professionals' purchasing power by stabilizing the economy and controlling inflation, rather than just increasing nominal salaries.

• Will reduce workload and create opportunities for professionals to generate additional income in coordination with the rural community.

We cannot give a specific number without on-the-ground research, but we will ensure no doctor remains unemployed without destabilizing the economy.

• Will conduct on-the-ground research to determine realistic targets for improving the doctor-to-patient ratio.

• Pledges to eliminate doctor unemployment and ensure all doctors are hired.

The government must take primary responsibility for public health. The private sector will fill gaps, but we will strictly regulate it to prevent exploitation and corruption.

• The government will take the primary role in providing health services to the public.

• Will modernize government institutions and eliminate corruption to improve public service delivery.

• Will strictly regulate private health facilities through laws to prevent exploitation and ensure affordability.

We didn't call them incompetent; we emphasized the need for continuous training. Our insurance alternative is a citizen-led system managed by the community, unlike the current inefficient government system.

• Clarifies they did not call professionals incompetent, but advocated for continuous professional development (CPD) and training.

• Proposes a "citizen-led" health insurance managed by the community (like Iddir) to prevent government mismanagement and corruption.

We are focusing on prevention through lifestyle changes and early screening. We also subsidize chemotherapy in 33 hospitals and have expanded radiation therapy to 6 regional centers.

• Promoting prevention through physical exercise (e.g., corridor development) and maintaining low smoking rates.

• Conducting early screening campaigns for cervical cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, and hypertension.

• Subsidizing chemotherapy in 33 hospitals and expanded radiation therapy to 6 locations outside Addis Ababa, with plans to reach 10.

It is a standard bilateral cooperation agreement to replace USAID projects. We negotiated it carefully to protect our sovereignty and policies, and it does not involve giving away citizens' data.

• The agreement is a government-to-government cooperation to replace discontinued USAID projects.

• The agreement was negotiated to align with Ethiopia's policies and strictly protects national sovereignty.

• Denies any claims that the agreement involves handing over citizens' health data to foreign entities.

We are working to ensure peace and ask opposition parties to condemn armed groups. We have already rebuilt and restored services to over 90% of damaged health facilities.

• Urges opposition parties to condemn armed groups that destroy health facilities and prevent citizens from accessing care.

• Rebuilt and restored services to over 90% of health facilities damaged by conflict and other disasters.

We held extensive discussions with professionals and the PM, leading to salary adjustments. However, disciplinary action was taken against a few who unethically abandoned patients.

• Held month-long discussions with health professionals at all levels, including a meeting with the Prime Minister, to address their grievances.

• Made quick salary adjustments and are working on housing and transport solutions for health workers.

• Took disciplinary action only against professionals who unethically abandoned patients and surgeries.

Our ideology integrates health with other sectors like agriculture. We are expanding curative care to make Ethiopia a medical tourism hub and have successfully maintained services even during conflicts.

• Follows a prevention-based health policy integrated with other sectors like agriculture (e.g., wheat production, 'Lemat Tirufat').

• Expanding curative care to make Ethiopia a medical tourism destination.

• Successfully maintained health services and controlled outbreaks like Marburg virus quickly, even in conflict areas.

We don't plan to close the private sector, but we believe the government must lead and regulate the health sector, working in coordination with private facilities.

• Does not intend to close the private health sector.

• Believes the government must be the strong leader and regulator of the health sector to ensure proper service.

Our policy is clear: prevention first. By ensuring clean water and health awareness, we prevent diseases and the subsequent economic crises caused by medical costs.

• Policy is centered on prevention first ("ታሞ ከመማቀቅ አስቀድሞ መጠንቀቅ").

• Aims to prevent the economic crisis of medical costs by ensuring clean water and health awareness before people get sick.