The Partnership for Child Development (PCD) and SCI have come together with key partners to pilot a comprehensive school health & nutrition programme.

UK Coalition Members Collaborating in Ethiopia in a Comprehensive Approach to Child Health

With 88.6% of the population in Ethiopia facing multiple deprivations, the demand for services from the government, civil society and the international community to address shortcomings in education, health and standard of living is extensive.  The Partnership for Child Development (PCD) and the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI)[1] (members of the UK Coalition against Neglected Tropical Diseases) have come together with key partners[2] to pilot a comprehensive school health and nutrition programme coordinated with a large scale deworming initiative in an effort to establish not only ‘best-practice’ to help with the advocacy and design of similar programmes in other sub-Saharan African countries, but also to estimate the likely impact such a programme would have when implemented at a regional or national level.

The comprehensive school health and nutrition programme integrates the delivery of home-grown school-feeding, improved water and sanitation facilities, and deworming against schistosomiasis and intestinal helminths.  It brings together key players in a complimentary, collaborative and cost-effective manner which is expected to significantly multiply the benefits normally achieved through individual interventions including greater cost-effectiveness, scientific rigour, and consistent and accurate dissemination of information to all stakeholders.

Ethiopia’s population comprises of around 17.8 million school age children of which approximately 2.8 million, do not attend school[3].  Using school-based services to deliver improvements in child health and nutrition is recognised by many partners as simple, safe and cost-effective as it utilises existing infrastructure and secures high coverage.   However, the issues in Ethiopia are far too complex for one organization to address.  With this in mind expertise was sought in agricultural input, school feeding, water, sanitation and hygiene, deworming, monitoring and evaluation to ensure effective service delivery and learning is achieved throughout the life of the programme.

This project provides a great opportunity to bring together the expertise offered by members of the UK Coalition against NTDs in an integrated fashion to benefit the school-aged population of Ethiopia.