Integrated Healthy Life Promotion and development

The Kambata Development Association (KDA) has implemented a wide range of health projects to address critical health challenges in the community it serves. When the Association was founded, access to health services in the Zone was extremely limited, with no hospitals, health centers, or posts, and only a few small clinics operating in towns, forcing patients to travel long distances for medical care. As a pioneer grassroots CSO, KDA expanded health coverage by supporting the construction of six health posts and one health center in rural areas, while also facilitating treatment for more than 20 women suffering from fistula at Yirgalem Fistula Centre, where they were successfully cured. The Association has continuously supported economically disadvantaged patients referred to higher-level hospitals outside the Zone. KDA also played a leading role in HIV/AIDS prevention and support, conducting large-scale awareness campaigns, school-based projects, voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services, and offering assistance to associations of people living with HIV/AIDS to reduce stigma and discrimination. Maternal and child health has been another key focus, with KDA helping to reduce maternal and infant mortality by paying top-up salaries for gynecologists and obstetricians at Dr. Bogalech Gebre Memorial Hospital to ensure retention of specialists for complicated deliveries and surgeries. During the COVID-19 pandemic, KDA mobilized resources locally and from the diaspora to supply ICU equipment and protective gear—including oxygen cylinders, concentrators, oximeters, gloves, N95 masks, and sanitary materials—to hospitals and COVID centers across the Zone, while also running awareness campaigns in schools, marketplaces, churches, and public gatherings.