Over the last 31 years, the awardee has provided care to many women and newborns of Ethiopia with the highest professional integrity as a medical doctor by practicing across all dimensions of health care. His maternal and perinatal health care practice extends from a health facility service provider to a National MCH program leadership, from clinical to public health practice, from public to private institutions & NGOs, and from local to international
organizations.
In his first four- and half-year assignment as an obstetrician and gynecologist, he served around the clock as the only OB-Gyn specialist for over 2-million women living in the catchment area of Ambo Hospital.
He has been a member of the ESOG for the last 22 years, where he also served for years as a member of the society’s executive board and managed a 3-year joint safe motherhood project of ESOG and FIGO. While leading and coordinating this project, he published articles titled “The reason for the underutilization of Emergency Obstetric Care in Ethiopia” and “The impact of the safe motherhood project in Ethiopia”. Besides, he has contributed for the betterment of quality of maternal and newborn care through his engagement as a member of several civil societies such as Ethiopian Medical Association, Ethiopia Society of Public Health Association, Ethiopian Red Cross Society and British Red Cross Association. He provides voluntary SRH services to the Abebech Gobena Orphanage and School and leads a local community initiative called "Green Neighborhood".
He is among the pioneer Obstetricians and Gynecologists who led Ethiopia's national family health program as a director at the Federal Ministry of Health. He has played an enormous leadership experience in improving the quality of maternal and perinatal health in Ethiopia and abroad (in the UK) while working as a director or senior program manager of international organizations such as the world Health Organization, Marie Stopes International (MSI), and EngenderHealth.
He has led and contributed to the development of several national and regional (African) strategies, roadmaps, guidelines, handbooks, standards, and tools for improving reproductive, maternal, and perinatal health care. He led the development of Ethiopia's First National Reproductive Health Strategy (2006-2015), Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy (2006-2015), and contributed to the development of the 2016-2020 National reproductive Health Strategic Plan. As a lead of the national safe motherhood technical working group, he greatly contributed for the development of the first edition of the technical and procedural guidelines on safe abortion care, National PMTCT guideline, and National comprehensive Training Package for Family Planning.
He was one of the experts who did literature review in the use, safety and effectiveness of Mifepristone and Misoprostol for medical termination of pregnancy, and PPH management, and successfully advised the government of Ethiopia for the inclusion the two essential drugs in the Ethiopian National Drug List. He is the one who signed the first import of these drugs and by now all of us know the impact of these drugs in the prevention of PPH and unsafe/septic abortion. Moreover, he has built the capacity of many healthcare providers by enhancing their knowledge and skills in delivery of EmONC, Comprehensive Abortion Care, Universal Active Management of Third Stage to Prevent PPH, Family Planning (all types) and PMTCT care. He has directly improved facility level quality of Maternal and newborn health care by introducing quality improvement models such COPE, Logic model and site level supportive supervision in many health facilities and districts in Ethiopia and the United Kingdom.