Impact of COVID-19 on population health and economic wellbeing in Ethiopia: A national pilot survey.

Introduction: The COVD-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented global health and economic crisis, particularly in countries struggling with poverty. We conducted a national survey to understand the economic and health impacts of COVID-19 in Ethiopia. Methods: A pilot, population-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted among adults randomly selected from the Ethio Telecom list of mobile phone numbers. Participants underwent a comprehensive phone interview about the impact of COVID-19 on their economic well-being and the health-related risks associated with COVID-19. Results: Of 4,180 calls attempted, 1194 were answered, of which a successful interview was made with 614 participants. COVID-19 affected the family income of 343 [55.9%] participants, 56 [9.1%] lost their job, 105 [17.1%] perceived high stress in their household, and 7 [1.14%] reported death in their family in the past month. The odds of having a decreased income due to COVID-19 were 2.4 times higher among self-employed [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.4, 95% CI (1.58-3.77)] and 2.8 times higher among unemployed [AOR 2.8, 95% CI (1.35-5.85)] participants. Two-hundred twenty-one [36%] participants had comorbidity in their household with hypertension, 72 [11.7%], diabetes,50 [8.1%], asthma, 48 [7.8%], and other chronic diseases, 51 [8.4%]. Forty-six [7.5%] participants had COVID-like symptoms in the previous month, where cough, headache, and fatigue were the most common. Conclusion: COVID-19 posed serious economic pressure on households. Self-employed and unemployed were the most affected. Continuous surveillance is needed to actively monitor the impact of COVID-19 in the community and safeguard the economic and health well-being of individuals and households.

The Implications of COVID-19 for Early Childhood Education in Ethiopia: Perspectives from Parents and Caregivers.

Recent research on the effects of COVID-19 on school closures has mainly focused on primary and secondary education, with extremely limited attention to early childhood education (ECE). To address this gap, we identify the extent to which parents and caregivers with pre-primary school-aged children were engaged in their children's learning during school closures in Ethiopia. Our focus on Ethiopia is of particular relevance given that ECE provision has expanded dramatically in recent years, aimed at ensuring children are prepared for primary school. Using data collected through a phone survey with 480 parents and caregivers, the results revealed that learning disruption due to COVID-19 school closures is likely to be substantial and will probably widen existing inequalities further. Many poorer households and those where parents or caregivers are not literate, are less likely to have child-oriented learning resources, and home learning activities between parents and children in these households are limited. The study highlights that greater attention needs to be paid to mitigate the threats of COVID-19 on Ethiopia's recent gains in ECE, to prevent the pandemic from further reinforcing inequalities between children from advantaged and disadvantaged households.

Burden of neglected tropical diseases and access to medicine and diagnostics in Ethiopia: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: More than 1.7 billion people are affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) worldwide. Forty percent of the NTD-affected people live in Africa with the poorest, most vulnerable, and hard to reach geographical areas. The NTDs cause significant social and economic burden and deepen marginalization and stigmatization. The World Health Organization's current roadmap for NTD aims to prevent, control, eliminate, or eradicate 20 tropical diseases. Ethiopia experiences a high burden of these diseases, but current access to diagnostics, medicine, and/or care has been little explored to inform the country's NTD strategic plan. The overall purpose of the scoping review was to map and characterize the burden of NTDs and challenges in access to diagnostics, medicine, and/or care in Ethiopia. METHODS: A systematic search of evidence was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar from January 2000 until May 2022, without restrictions of language or study design. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Review was followed for screening of studies. Key findings were extracted and narrated qualitatively. RESULTS: The search resulted in 4532 articles, of which 105 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the scoping review under three themes: burden of NTDs, access to diagnostics, medicine and/or care, and key barriers. Although gains have been made in the prevention and control of NTDs in Ethiopia, the burden remains high, and progress in access to diagnostics, medicine/drugs, and/or care is very slow. Poverty, poor quality of life, and underfunding of NTD programs decelerate the process of NTD elimination program in the country. CONCLUSIONS: The scoping review identified a considerable number of studies on the burden of NTDs in Ethiopia and strategies for diagnosis, treatment, and/or care; however, there is a paucity of evidence on the suitability and potential benefits of novel diagnostic technologies and medicines in the country. A regular review and analysis of such country-level evidence is important to inform the country NTDs roadmap and local implementation strategies.

The effect of early childhood stunting on children's cognitive achievements: Evidence from young lives Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: There is little empirical evidence on the effect of childhood malnutrition on children's cognitive achievements in low income countries like Ethiopia. A longitudinal data is thus vital to understand the factors that influence cognitive development of children over time, particularly how early childhood stunting affects cognitive achievement of children up to the age of 8 years. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of early childhood stunting on cognitive achievements of children using longitudinal data that incorporate anthropometric measurements and results of cognitive achievement tests such as Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and Cognitive Development Assessment quantitative tests. METHOD: Defining stunted children as those having a standardized height for age z-score less than -2; we used a Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to examine the effect of early childhood stunting on measures of cognitive performance of children. The balance of the propensity score matching techniques was checked and found to be satisfied (P<0.01). RESULTS: Early childhood stunting is significantly negatively associated with cognitive performance of children. Controlled for confounding variables such as length of breastfeeding, relative size of the child at birth, health problems of early childhood such as acute respiratory illness and malaria, baseline household wealth, child gender, household size and parental education, estimates from PSM show that stunted children scored 16.1% less in the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and 48.8% less in the Quantitative Assessment test at the age of eight, both statistically significant at P<0.01. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to realize the importance of early investment in terms of child health and nutrition until five years for the cognitive performance of children. As household wealth and parental education are particularly found to play an important role in children's nutritional achievements, policy measures that are directed in improving household's livelihood may have a spill-over impact in improving child nutritional status, and consequently cognitive development and schooling.