April 2020

A group of high-profile international scientists with close personal ties to Ethiopia, led by WHO staff, have set up a task force to advise the Ethiopian government in Tigray on combating the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the very long experience of members of Etiopia-Witten, the member of the board of Etiopia-Witten, the internist Ahmedin Idris from Witten, was included in the task force. In these consultations, Etiopia-Witten is particularly committed to the development of personal protection products for medical personnel that could be manufactured on site in Ethiopia. This against the background that their numbers are minimal compared to the population. Etiopia-Witten receives intensive advice from the hygiene department of the Marienhospital in Bochum, which is linked to Ethiopia.

As a first example, the instructions for the production of reusable overalls that are washable at 90° C from a plastic for waterproof covers for mattresses in hospital beds have been described, which are already been used and tested in Bochum.

An initial donation of 10,000 euros from Etiopia-Witten was made to the account of the Task Force, which is organizationally supported by the Tigrinya Development Association (TDA) of the foreign Tigrinya - Ethiopians.