In Ethiopia, Child-Help donates shunts for a surgical program run by “Reach Another Foundation” (RAF) and to Dr. Tony Magana at the university hospital in Mekele. Child-help supported the creation of the Ethiopian spina bifida association and trained two nurses in continence management. Twenty-two nurses were trained in two CIC (Clean Intermittent Catheterization) trainings.
In 2018, Child-Help supported a partner in Northern Ethiopia to chart the incidence in detail. The results are staggering. They are so serious that an urgent high-level planning meeting was convened. In Mek'ele, capital of the Tigray region in Ethiopia, the incidence of spina bifida would be 10 times higher than elsewhere (14 out of 1,000).