Eritrea - Ministry of Information

The Ministry of Health is striving to provide quality health service wherever and whenever a citizen may be in need. At this important stage of national development in which huge investment is being made to further expand and deliver standardized services, it is imperative to review the efficiency of health institutions operating in various parts of the country. In this regard, the Ministry of Health has introduced a new working mechanism for private clinics to render quality services in view of the fact that some of such clinics require restructuring and reorganization. All the privately owned health sectors have been found to be providing inadequate services without any remarkable enhancement and as such, the Ministry was compelled to take remedial measures so as to rectify existing problems. Shabait conducted a brief interview with Dr. Tesfai Solomon, head of regulation services, and Mr. Berhane Gebretinsae, Director General of health services at the Ministry of Health. Excerpts follow:

More than 75,000 patients in Eritrea have been treated in the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) clinic in the Halibet Hospital over the past 19 years alone with a few doctors and handful staff members. Patients were relieved from chronic infection, deafness, disorientation, body imbalance, as well as communication problems, thanks to the Government’s vigorous endeavors. Impressed with these achievements, members of the German medical organization, MedCare, started campaigning to secure funds for the construction of a modern ENT clinic. As a result of joint efforts on the part of the Health Ministry and MedCare, a National Referral ENT clinic within the Orotta Hospital was constructed at the cost of over 13 million Nakfa that was inaugurated on November 9, 2010. Shabait conducted a brief interview with Dr. Habteab Mehari, the director of National Referral Hospitals in the Health Ministry, Prof. Eberhard Stennert, Board Chairperson of MedCare and Dr. Simon Haile, head of ENT Department at national level.

In this era of globalization, any person is required to bring legal documents from where she/he lives to enjoy any social rights such as education, job and marriage. The Public Registration Office in the Central region was setup to record a brief profile of every individual or a family in the country. With the increasing demand of legal documents, the office is always over crowded with clients. It usually provides services for around 150 up to 200 beneficiaries per day, and sometimes the number is double fold during summer times and during the registration of students in colleges. Shabait has conducted an interview with Mr. Tesfamichael Tesfaldet, the Head of the Public Registration, Cemetery and Social Rehabilitation office in the Central region focusing on the general activities of the office.

He is the reason Eritrea became a familiar name in the world of international athletics. Olympian Athlete Zersenay Tadesse is listed as one of the top ten runners in the world.  His reputation and victory is still flourishing in men’s in half-marathon race. Zersenay was awarded the prestigious Association of International Marathon and Distance Races (AIMS) World’s Fastest Time in recent history. This was in recognition of his world-record breaking performance during the Lisbon Half Marathon early this year.  Zersenay’s time of 58:23 on 21 March 2010 broke the previous men’s half marathon world record. He was determined to maintain the title in the World Half-Marathon Championships in Nanning, China for fifth time, when his muscle contracted suddenly. Shabait conducted an interview with Zersenay and Coach Aklilu Mogos, a seasoned trainer in long and half-marathon races, regarding Zersenay's general condition and the over all-development of athletics in Eritrea.

It is commonly mentioned that Eritrea has potential in athletics, cycling and football. The popularity of volleyball especially in the mid-1990s showed that it was among the highly favored and practiced sports in the country. Though it is hard to find documentation when volleyball was first introduced in Eritrea, it is believed that it was started during the Ethiopian colonial period and later on it was introduced in schools as part of the physical education course in the late 60s and early 70s. Its popularity was limited among the military camps and among students of junior and high schools. There were no national or international tournaments during that time. It is also said that volleyball was played in Assab and the surrounding coastal areas, especially among the Afar people. Yet, its advancement considering its fan base in the country has not been encouraging. Shabait conducted an interview with Mr. Tahir Ibrahim, the president of the Eritrean National Federation of Volleyball regarding the efforts to develop the sport in Eritrea.

Any society has its own music and dance style that portrays its very identity. In Eritrea each ethnic group has a very rich traditional music and dance, creating a diverse cultural variety. However, for many years Eritreans had been prevented from taking pride in their own cultural uniqueness due to colonialism, until the revolutionary struggle (EPLF) played its due role. It was during this time that the Eritrean music and dance found a platform to develop, giving rise to the emergence of many musicians as well as dancers. This laid a concrete foundation for further advancement of Eritrean music and dance in the present day. Thus, promoting and modernizing such artistic works while maintaining their originality through a process of evaluation and revaluation becomes imperative. For this reason, a conference regarding the Eritrean music and dance is scheduled to be held from October 20- 24 at the Hotel Asmara Palace. Shabait conducted an interview with the Secretary of the Eritrean Music Association, Mr. Mohammed Osman, regarding this issue. Excerpts follow: