Title: Organisation of health service delivery
Course: Health Management, Ethics and Research - Ethiopia (Full)

Organisation of health service delivery

In this section you will learn about the current organisational structure of the healthcare system. The healthcare service has always consisted of a mixture of public, private and nongovernmental healthcare sectors. However, for this session you will mainly focus on the public sector organisational structure. In the mid-1990s, prior to the implementation of Health Sector Development Programme I (HSDP I), the public healthcare system was structured into a six-tier system. Currently, it is a four-tier healthcare system (Figure 1.1), which is organised into Primary Health Care Units (PHCUs), District Hospitals, General Hospitals and Specialised Hospitals. The PHCU is a Health Centre surrounded usually by five satellite Health Posts. Each Health Post serves approximately 5,000 people and the five together total 25,000 people who are looked after by each Health Centre.

Figure 1.1 The four levels of the current healthcare system in Ethiopia with the number of people served at each level. (Source: FMOH/Wondwossen Temiess)

At which level do Health Extension Workers and Health Extension Practitioners work?

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Health Extension Workers and Health Extension Practitioners work in Health Posts, which are in the fourth tier of the Health Service.