review · Anesthesia & Analgesia
A national review across Ethiopia evaluated the capacity and organisation of intensive care units in September 2020. Surveying 51 of the country's 53 facilities, representing 324 intensive care beds for 114 million people, the assessment revealed an availability of roughly 0.3 public beds per 100,000 population. Resources were heavily skewed towards Addis Ababa, which accounted for a quarter of all beds and more than half of the critical care physicians. Critical infrastructure was severely constrained: no facility possessed piped oxygen, and only one third of beds were equipped with basic non-invasive monitoring tools including pulse oximetry, blood pressure monitors, and electrocardiography. Further shortages were identified in mechanical ventilation, invasive monitoring, renal dialysis, and infection prevention strategies. The review demonstrates urgent shortfalls in the availability, distribution, and equipment of acute care services nationwide.
Critical illness is widespread and rising in low-income settings, directly affecting outcomes for trauma, communicable diseases, and maternal health. Comprehensive baseline data on intensive care provision are essential for healthcare planners and policymakers to identify and address severe gaps in medical equipment, facility infrastructure, and workforce distribution, ensuring life support is accessible beyond major urban centres.
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BACKGROUND: The burden of critical illness in low-income countries is high and expected to rise. This has implications for wider public health measures including maternal mortality, deaths from communicable diseases, and the global burden of disease related to injury. There is a paucity of data pertaining to the provision of critical care in low-income countries. This study provides a review of critical care services in Ethiopia. METHODS: Multicenter structured onsite surveys incorporating face-to-face interviews, narrative discussions, and on-site assessment were conducted at intensive care units (ICUs) in September 2020 to ascertain structure, organization, workforce, resources, and service capacity. The 12 recommended variables and classification criteria of the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine (WFSICCM) taskforce criteria were utilized to provide an overview of service and service classification. RESULTS: A total of 51 of 53 (96%) ICUs were included, representing 324 beds, for a population of 114 million; this corresponds to approximately 0.3 public ICU beds per 100,000 population. Services were concentrated in the capital Addis Ababa with 25% of bed capacity and 51% of critical care physicians. No ICU had piped oxygen. Only 33% (106) beds had all of the 3 basic recommended noninvasive monitoring devices (sphygmomanometer, pulse oximetry, and electrocardiography). There was limited capacity for ventilation (n = 189; 58%), invasive monitoring (n = 9; 3%), and renal dialysis (n = 4; 8%). Infection prevention and control strategies were lacking. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights major deficiencies in quantity, distribution, organization, and provision of intensive care in Ethiopia. Improvement efforts led by the Ministry of Health with input from the acute care workforce are an urgent priority.
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DOI: 10.1213/ane.0000000000005799
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