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.

August 01 2007
Western diplomats suspect that Ethiopia, the Goliath of the two opponents, is sorely tempted to deliver a killer blow against its smaller rival before the Bush administration, a close Ethiopia ally, leaves office at the beginning of 2009. Last year Ethiopia invaded Somalia and, with clandestine Pentagon help, toppled an emerging Islamist movement accused of sheltering Al Qaeda operatives. And though Eritrea has more to risk in going to war, experts say its deepening isolation from the world -- its latest alleged mischief involves UN accusations that it secretly funneled weapons to Islamist rebels in Somalia -- doesn't preclude its launching a pre-emptive strike.

The gunman held some sort of assault rifle and wore something over his face, says the woman, who is not being identified for her protection. He pointed his gun at the woman's face. Then he turned and walked around the counter toward the clerk, 48-year-old Tadessa Kebeda, nicknamed Shorty because he stood about 5-foot-4. Mr. Kebeda, who at that moment may have been thinking about getting home to his pregnant wife, came to the U.S. from Ethiopia about 25 years ago as a refugee.

Lantos Addresses Erroneous Reports About Legislation on Ethiopia
To correct erroneous reports about the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Accountability Act (H.R. 2003), Chairman Tom Lantos of the House Foreign Affairs Committee issued this statement today: "The full committee did not consider the measure at today's markup because I wanted to give Ethiopia's elders, government officials, courts and opposition leaders an opportunity to work out a pardon arrangement for the more than 30 remaining political detainees. Late last week I notified other members of Congress, including the House leadership, of my decision." H.R. 2003 is dead!!

July 31 2007
UN: Ethiopia, Eritrea Still a Concern
In its resolution Monday, the Security Council demanded that Eritrea withdraw its troops and heavy military equipment from the buffer zone and Ethiopia reduce the number of additional military forces it has recently sent to areas next to the zone. It also called on both sides to "show maximum restraint and refrain from any threat or use of force against each other."

Sec. Council Extends UN Role In Ethiopia, Eritrea
The Security Council today agreed to extend the mandate by six months of the United Nations peacekeeping mission monitoring the ceasefire that ended the border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2000, voicing concern about the ongoing tensions between the two African neighbours.

The promised land of the world's Rastafarians can be found along a narrow highway in Ethiopia's ancient Rift Valley, a landscape of scattered trees with trunks the size of houses and fields of grain that shimmer in the sunlight like a bronze haze. "We've been waiting a long, long time to become Ethiopians," said Desmond Martin, a Jamaican pioneer who settled here more than 30 years ago on land donated by Emperor Haile Selassie. "We love Ethiopia. Ethiopia is our holy land. But we're still not considered to be from this place."

I encountered racism everywhere I went. It was expressed in various ways: at times it was outright mockery, at times it was behind my back, sometimes it was pity. Yet, slowly, I managed to fit in (I hate this phrase). I graduated high school, served in the army, traveled in South America, graduated from university and got a normal (i.e. not "typical" Ethiopian) job. The last hurdle I was not able to overcome so far: Israeli women. Not a single Israeli woman wanted to date me. I had female friends in the army and through school. I have a good relationship with the ones at work. But a girlfriend? Sex? No way.

ETHIOPIAN Airlines has purchased one MD-11 from Boeing for conversion. The aircraft will be delivered to Ethiopian in December 2008. “Currently, the Ethiopian export market is exhibiting a dramatic annual average growth rate and ET’s total international freight traffic uplift has been increasing at 12.03 per cent annually. The addition of these two freighter aircraft will bolster cargo capacity of the airline supporting the increasing export market of the country.”

July 30 2007
Ethiopian opposition officials told a court on Monday that two anti-poverty activists on trial for allegedly trying to overthrow the government were never members of their movement. Daniel Bekele, 40, and Netsanet Demissie, 29, are the last two defendants out of 131 original charged in a long-running treason trial. On Monday, Hailu Shawel, chairman of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) told the court neither men had been a part of his organisation.

Fighting chance for Ethiopians
Norm Perdue used to have a home office he called his "Ethiopia Room." Those were the days when he was able to contain this project to one desk and a few walls. This week, Perdue and 10 members of the dance troupe, ages 7 to 12, will arrive in New York City to begin their second annual dance tour.

Over 3500 Judges to Vote Online for Miss Millennium Queen, Teen
Over 3500 Judges will vote the internet to decide the finalist of the Miss Millennium Queen and Miss Millennium Teen pageants next week, to allow a broader and better selection, organizers announced in a statement. Ethiopians in the Diaspora, estimated to be over 3500, will be emailed links to the web site featuring the finalists and be invited to vote online for "Miss Photogenic", in what has been said "the first of it is kind" for an Ethiopia beauty Pageant," said the beauty pageant organizers. Source Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)