The National Health Policy (NHP) of Eritrea encourages everyone to enjoy the maximum degree of health as is reasonably practicable as one of their fundamental rights.
The strategy places a high priority on ensuring that everyone has access to affordable, high-quality, and critical healthcare services provided by robust and adaptable health systems.
Its goal is to provide Eritreans with universal health coverage, assuring their physical, mental, and social well-being (UHC).
The Eritrean government made replacing the outdated medical facilities it inherited and constructing new ones in places where none previously existed one of its top goals soon after gaining independence.
According to the NHP, new healthcare facilities will continue to be built by determining the regions in which they are required and expanding services to include all residents.
The goal of Eritrea to achieve UHC and the developments on all fronts are tremendously motivating.
The following statistics show that Eritrea has been making progress toward achieving UHC.
With a nearly universal (98%) coverage of immunizations, Eritrea has been effective in implementing the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI).
On October 17, 2009, in Hanoi, Vietnam, it received a prize from the Global Alliance for Vaccine Initiative (GAVI) for maintaining a high level of immunization coverage.
Additionally, Eritrea received the 2016 UNICEF award for outstanding success in vaccine management in 2016.
In terms of securing mother and child care as well as managing and preventing communicable diseases, Eritrea has made tremendous progress.
By sustaining what has been accomplished, the strategy is now to increase the quality and coverage of healthcare services.
Ninety-six percent of women in 2019 participated in antenatal care (ANC) during their most recent pregnancy.
This has significantly improved, rising by 416 percent, from 19 percent in 1991 to 98 percent in 2019. (five-fold).
Additionally, 71 percent of mothers gave birth in hospitals with the assistance of medical staff in 2016, an increase of 1083 percent since 1991.
Maternal mortality ratio has decreased by 69%, according to a Ministry of Health (MoH) health and demography report from 2015.
The child mortality rate for children under the age of five decreased from 153 deaths per 1000 in 1991 to 40 deaths per 1000 in 2019, a 74% drop.
Data from 2019 shows a 68 percent drop from the 1990 death rate of 94 per 1000 children under one.
These outstanding accomplishments are some of the greatest in Africa.
According to the World Health Statistics Annual Reports (WHO, 2016), throughout the same time period, Africa experienced average decreases in maternal, neonatal, and under-five mortality of 45 percent, 38 percent, and 54 percent, respectively.
Life expectancy at birth, a summative health indicator, grew by 35% from 48 years in 1990 to 65 years in 2016 (62.9 years for men and 67.1 years for women), with the healthy life expectancy at birth predicted to be 57.4 years in 2016.
In avoiding dangerous cultural behaviors that have an adverse impact on health, particularly for women and girls, Eritrea has also made significant progress.
The government declared female circumcision a crime through a proclamation that year in an effort to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Since then, Eritrea has made significant strides toward eliminating FGM and its associated causes of health problems.
At the time of independence, approximately 95% of Eritrean women had circumcision; however, a 2010 report indicates that this percentage has dropped.
Eritrea reduced under-five mortality by two thirds, making it one of the ten WHO Africa nations that met MDG4 in 2015.
Eritrea is one of the nations that is anticipated to meet the SDG target for under-five mortality before 2030 if current trends continue.
In 2010, 0.93 percent of the general population was HIV positive. HIV prevalence is currently estimated to be 0.22 percent in people over the age of 15.
Additionally, Eritrea is striving toward the pre-elimination phase in terms of malaria control. Malaria-related deaths decreased by 98% between 1999 and 2020.
As a result, both HIV prevalence and malaria prevalence have reached their lowest points and are now in the eradication phase.
However, this does not imply that communicable disease control is complete.
Even though the majority of common communicable diseases have been greatly reduced or eliminated, some illnesses associated with poor hygiene still remain a concern.
The strategy is to give proper attention to controlling and preventing communicable diseases by building on what has already been accomplished.
Additionally, the coronavirus pandemic has taught nations that it is impossible to completely rule out the possibility of infectious diseases.
Non-communicable diseases have been on the rise globally and accounted for 71% of fatalities in the previous year.
Similar to elsewhere, Eritrea is experiencing an increase in non-communicable diseases and injuries, which is already challenging our ability to provide quality healthcare.
There are currently developing problems with both communicable and non-communicable diseases, such as psychiatric ailments, cancer, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and congenital defects that cause diseases.
Road traffic injuries are common, disproportionately impacting the working-age and young population, and their mortality rates have been rising over time. There is no proof that the pattern of these diseases is changing.
Contrarily, the MoH projects that mortality from malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and pregnancy- and delivery-related causes would either remain at their current levels or decline.
One of the few nations to successfully contain COVID-19 is Eritrea. Since the epidemic, 9,805 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed. 9,691 of the confirmed patients have made a full recovery.
Eritrea was able to avoid any significant prevalence thanks to a variety of circumstances.
The government’s swift, forceful, and aggressive non-pharmaceutical response helped stop the virus’s spread and provided crucial time for the healthcare system to get ready, while methodical screening, tracing, isolation, and social isolation were crucial in minimizing local transmission.
The public’s commitment to recommendations and safety precautions, as well as the clear and consistent information provided by the MoH and the Government, have all contributed to the virus’s resurgence.
It should be highlighted that through improving its responsiveness and the resilience of its healthcare facilities, Eritrea’s cumulative expertise in combating endemic and infectious diseases has played a significant role in controlling COVID-19.