When the law makes doors slightly open: ethical dilemmas among abortion service providers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Background: In 2005, Ethiopia changed its abortion law to curb its high maternal mortality. This has led to a considerable reduction in deaths from unsafe abortions. Abortion is now legal if the woman's pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, if her health is endangered, if the fetus has a serious deformity, if she suffers from a physical or mental deficiency, or if she is under 18 years of age.

Modelling hospital operations: insight from using data from paper registries in the obstetrics ward at a hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

In the Ethiopian health system, operations management techniques have been underutilised. Although previous research has outlined limitations of paper-based patient records, few studies have examined their potential utility for improving management of hospital operations. In this paper, we used data collected from paper registries in an Ethiopian obstetrics ward at Addis Ababa's Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia's largest university hospital, to model the ward's operations.

Financial risk protection at the bedside: How Ethiopian physicians try to minimize out-of-pocket health expenditures.

Background: Out-of-pocket health expenditures can pose major financial risks, create access-barriers and drive patients and families into poverty. Little is known about physicians' role in financial protection of patients and families at the bedside in low-income settings and how they perceive their roles and duties when treating patients in a health care system requiring high out-of-pocket costs.

Objective: Assess physicians' concerns regarding financial welfare of patients and their families and analyze physicians' experiences in reducing catastrophic health expenditures for patients in Ethiopia.