Digital Doctors

When 14-year-old Binyam Yosef developed a nasty swelling under his left knee, his worried parents took him to the Black Lion Teaching Hospital in Addis Ababa. They approached Swiss professor Jacob Schneider who examined Binyam thoroughly and concluded that he was suffering from a malignant cancer. It looked as though his leg would need to be amputated, but Schneider was not 100 per cent sure of his diagnosis.

"I discussed the case with staff in the pathology department," Professor Schneider recalls. "We could not come to a definite decision." In the end, Schneider referred the case to an old colleague in Switzerland. Using the latest technology, he took a digital photograph of the boy's knee tissue through a microscope and e-mailed the photo to Professor Gernot Jundt, head of the bone tumor registry at the University of Basel. "Within days we received his diagnosis and detailed recommendations for the treatment," Schneider remembers." We were able to save the boy's leg."

Binyam Yosef is one of a lucky few in Ethiopia to be treated through the use of information technology. His case dates back to 2004, and results from the efforts of a group of health professionals to improve medical diagnoses and treatment over the past decade, and whose efforts led to a partnership between telecoms bodies, the health ministry and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. "With personal commitment and enthusiasm this project produced a number of activities which gave a glimmer of hope to the country," says Dr. Fassil Shiferaw of the Ethiopian Telecommunication Medical Service.Binyam Yosef is one of a lucky few in Ethiopia to be treated through the use of information technology. His case dates back to 2004, and results from the efforts of a group of health professionals to improve medical diagnoses and treatment over the past decade, and whose efforts led to a partnership between telecoms bodies, the health ministry and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. "With personal commitment and enthusiasm this project produced a number of activities which gave a glimmer of hope to the country," says Dr. Fassil Shiferaw of the Ethiopian Telecommunication Medical Service. Read More

July 20 2007
Ethiopia's freed leader defiant
Ethiopia's opposition leader has hit out at the government just hours after being pardoned and released from a life sentence in jail. Hailu Shawel said he had signed a document admitting to organising violent election protests in 2005 and asking for clemency "under duress". "We are slaves. I can't see how we can reconcile if the guy in power can't reconcile," Reuters news agency quotes him as saying. "Had CUD/AFD succeeded on their mission the fate of Tigraians in Addis Abeba and other parts of Ethiopia would have been worst than the fate of Tutsis in Rwanda. I would not be able to list the crimes of CUD/AFD against the Ethiopian people on this article, but the point is why on earth are they being released with out paying for their crimes? Mean while Siye and other Ethiopians are languishing in prison for years with out any justice. Is Siye worst than the Dergi riffraff like Hailu Shawel? Or Siye does not have people on higher places? Are they being released because they didn't commit any crime or they are reformed enough and they will never try again? I am afraid we will hear from them as soon as they step out of the gates of the jail house and it is not going to be their love for peace. This is what I wrote when I heard the news that they might be released, on June 30 2007. I am tempted to say I said so, Isn't it a shame when the government and people of Ethiopia show marcy to those disgusting criminals, they get more imbolded and insult every one back. Shame on them and shame on the government.
Tigrai Online view July 20 2007.

Ethiopia pardons 38 opposition members
Ethiopia has pardoned 38 opposition politicians and activists sentenced to various prison terms, including life, for inciting violence in an attempt to overthrow the government, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said. "I hope this conveys the message that people are given a second chance as long as they seek it," the prime minister said, referring to a letter the prisoners wrote to the government asking to be pardoned. Meles said that the prisoners' right to vote and seek public office also have been restored.

July 19 2007
Ethiopia leaning to clemency in opposition case
Ethiopia is leaning towards granting clemency to opposition members sentenced this week to life in prison, a government source said on Thursday. The constitutional powers of clemency reside with President Girma Woldegiorgise, not Meles, but the prime minister's opinion on the matter was expected to carry great weight in any pardon.

Ethiopia leases land to Indian investor to boost tea
Ethiopia has leased 10,000 hectares of virgin land to an Indian investor in the hope of boosting its nascent tea growing industry, the government said on Thursday. Some 3,000 hectares already planted with tea in the west was producing about 6,000 tonnes of tea a year, he said, 70 percent of which was sold locally and the rest to Europe and Djibouti.

Coptic and Ethiopian Churches Sign Truce
“You have made history”. This is how a Coptic Metropolitan described the reconciliation brought about by His Holiness Aram I (Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church) between the Coptic Orthodox and the Ethiopian Orthodox Churches. “This is a historical day”, said an Ethiopian Archbishop.

July 18 2007
Office collects over 194 mln birr in revenue

July 17 2007
Convicted CUD leaders asked the Ethiopian government to pardon them For their crimes aganist the Ethiopian people

Mekelle University undertaking expansion activities with 180 mln birr
Listen to Siye Abraha's interview with VOA Tigringa Amharic
Ethiopia Pardon Board to Decide Fate of Convicted Opposition Leaders
Group helps Ethiopia's donkeys

July 16 2007
Beyonce to perform at Ethiopian millennium
American Rthym ‘N’ Blues star Beyonce Knowles will stage a day-long concert for the Ethiopian millennium to be celebrated on September 12 in Addis Ababa. Sheraton Addis will pay Beyonce one million dollars and pay for the transportation of her band and equipment, APA learnt here on Monday.
Ethiopian opposition leaders get life sentence
UN to spend $63 million in health activities in Ethiopia
U.S. urges clemency for Ethiopians sentenced to life in prison
Teetering on shifting Eritrea-Ethiopia border, Badme awaits fate
PM Office publicizes a letter by CUD leaders asking pardon

July 15 2007
Mekelle University graduates over 3, 000 students in various fields
Eritrea accuses UK envoy of "conspiratorial" acts

July 14 2007
Six regular conference of Tigray State Council concludes endorsing performance report, appointment
Investors with 2.5 bln birr capital licensed in Tigray State
Ethiopia, World Bank sign grant, loan agreements

July 13 2007
Residents of Adwa town transplants over 100,000 seedlings
Rotarians aiding Ethiopians
Somalia peace meeting to go ahead, envoys invited
Somalia oil deal for China

July 12 2007
Gulf Air and Ethiopian Airlines enter codeshare pact
Eritrea Labeled Worst Jailer of Journalists in Africa
Two British Council employees arrested in Eritrea
Off with their heads, maybe

July 11 2007
Seeye Abraha Out from Jail
'Lucy's' Houston visit turns political
Ethiopia yields ancestral fossils

July 10 2007
News coming from Ethiopia indicates that Ayte Siye Abraha is out of jail freed by the courts at last. Congratulations to every one who stood for justice!
Tigrai Online view July 10 2007