Eritrea is located in the Horn of Africa and borders the Red Sea to the east, the Republic of Djibouti to the South-East, Ethiopia to the South and the Republic of Sudan to the north and west. The surface area is over 124,000 square Kilometres. The population is estimated to be 3,650,000 (UNDESA) as of 2021 and is projected to grow to 3,937,197 (increase of 7.9%) by 2026. As of 2020, about 41.1% and 14.0% of the total popula- tion was under the age of 15 years and under 5 years, respectively. The population that is 65 years and above is estimated at about 4.5%. Life expectancy at birth is estimated to be 67 years as at 2020 (UNFPA 2020).
The health agenda of Eritrea is implemented mainly through the interventions elucidated in the National Health Plan as well as the Health Sector Strategic and Development Plan (HSSDP). The country is currently operating the third HSSDP for five years, 2022-2026, with the central goal of “improving the health status of its people”. The WHO country office aligns collab- orative activities with the MoH with the priorities and interventions contained in the HSSDP, through Country Cooperative Strategic (CCS) document.
The next WHO CCS (2023-2027) has four strategies that are aligned with the country’s HSSDP (2022-2026). These strategic priorities are:
Increase achievement towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC), leaving no one behind
Enhance health security through strengthened prevention, detection, and response
Promote and optimize synergy, coordination, and leadership on the determinants of health for im- proved health and well-being and
Enhance health systems functionality to sustainably modernize medical services and expand resilient and comprehensive public health services.
This annual report of the 2022 provides a consolidated update of WHO’s activities against the objectives that were set out for the year 2022. It highlights key actions taken by WHO in the various programmes that range from advocacy, technical and financial support to implementation and operational support. This report also highlights achievements made, the challenges and lessons learned. The next steps to sustain or improve on the gains made as well as circumvent the challenges encountered have been included in the interventions in the CCS 2023-2027.
Taken together, despite multiple challenges, WHO in collaboration with MoH and other partners addressed the critical health challenges through innovation, adaptability, leveraging on the capacity of bilateral and multilateral partners and prioritization. The efforts made significant impact as many of the health indices have improved with some achieving UHC and SDG targets. Some infectious diseases are at the verge of being eradicated from the country. By sustaining the gains made and addressing the gaps/challenges encountered there will be further progress towards UHC and achieving more SDGs targets thereby further improving the health of the people of Eritrea.
Source: World Health Organization