In 2019 Fidel is collaborating with the Forum of Ethiopian Health Professionals – a group of dedicated and idealistic Ethiopian doctors and nurses. The partnership was formed in order to provide awareness and disseminate important health related information to both youth and adults in order to improve the overall health of the community.
Recent studies revealed the Ethiopian population does not access health services to the same extent as the overall population, often due to the language barrier along with an unfamiliarity with the need to access available health services. This situation leads to both a lack of preventative behavior and to a lower level of utilization of resources offered by the public health system.
Health issues that need to be addressed include sex-education, dangers of substance abuse, diet and nutrition related issues as well as others. [1] As an example of an existing health risk with a higher level of prevalence among Ethiopian olim is diabetes – a 2014 study exposed how there were 4.5 cases of diabetes per 1,000 Israelis of Ethiopian origin who were born in Israel as opposed to 2 cases per 1,000 in the general population. Another study exposed the issue of high blood pressure in comparison to the overall population.
[1] Based on study published in May 2018 by The Gertner Institute and the Ministry of Health: בריאות מבוגרים יוצאי אתיופיה בישראל
