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Minister of Health, Dr. Lia Tadese, attended the inauguration ceremony and said in her speech that the health sector is showing many improvements, but still needs to go further. She mentioned that the opening of Axol Stroke and Spine Center will take a chapter forward in stroke treatment as a country and expressed her appreciation for the center reaching this milestone. Dr. Lia said that the opening of this center with new technology and different services in the country will contribute greatly to the health sector.
It is Dr. Lia who stated that non-communicable diseases and the resulting deaths have been increasing over the years. She explained that in order to overcome this problem, the Ministry of Health has prepared and implemented a ten-year road map, which works to expand specialty medical services alongside the preventive work.
Dr. Lia pointed out that the government is focusing on investing in primary and general hospitals and that the expansion of specialty services requires the strong participation of the private sector in addition to the government. For this, she stated that the government is working to create and facilitate a favorable environment for the private sector.
Dr. Akeza Taeme, the co-founder of Axol Stroke and Spine Center, said that the fact that Axol Stroke and Spine Center provides a new service that has never existed in our country makes it unique. He also stated that it is an institution where people from neighboring countries are treated not only from within the country. They have been serving in Ethiopia for more than ten years in collaboration with American Medical Center, Samaritan Surgery Center and now Axol Stroke and Spine Center. Dr. Akeza stated that these three institutions are institutions that are working to bring significant change to the health sector of the country and that they are preparing to do even more work.
Two-thirds of the world's strokes occur in developing countries and are affecting those that are part of the production population, Dr. Wendessen Gebre Emanuel, co-founder and general manager of Axol Stroke and Spine Center, said. The spread of the disease in the country was the reason for the establishment of the center. Dr. Wendewesen said that rooms with beds can be arranged where patients who come suddenly ill can be received from the ambulance in the emergency room and given assistance, where the patient's weight can be measured while he is lying down, and other services can be provided. He explained that it is a center where patients can get services from detection to treatment of stroke under one roof in a room equipped with equipment called cat lab, and patients can be given different physiotherapy services in the recovery room.
Dr. Lia officially launched the medical center and toured the emergency room, intensive care units, CT scan brain surgery room, cath lab, technical and control rooms. It had been stated the first stroke center in Ethiopia was inaugurated today. The center is the second in Africa after South Africa and the first stroke center in Ethiopia. The Stroke and Spine Center is equipped with a variety of medical equipment and professionals equipped with unique and innovative technology.