Implementation of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist in an Ethiopian Referral Hospital.

Background: The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist has a growing evidence base to support its role in improving perioperative safety, although its impact is likely to be directly related to the effectiveness of its implementation. There remains a paucity of documented experience from low-resource settings on Checklist implementation approaches. We report an implementation strategy in a public referral hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, based on consultation, local leadership, formal introduction, and supported supervision with subsequent audit and feedback.

Volunteering to save lives.

Experienced health professionals are sharing their skills with midwives and nurses in Ethiopia to improve the education their counterparts receive and help reduce the risks expectant mothers face. In Ethiopia, there are 676 deaths per 100,000 live births compared with an average of 290 per 100,000 in other developing countries and only 6 per cent of women have medical support during labour. International development organisation, Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) is working with the Ethiopian Government to help them address this workforce shortage by placing experienced volunteer midwives in hospitals, universities and midwifery education institutions.