Established in 1962, the Ethiopian Medical Association (EMA) is among the first professional associations in the health sector in Ethiopia. It was founded by 100 members through a formal charter granted to it by then Emperor Haile Selassie I and is a member of the World Medical Association since 1994. EMA’s mission is to ensure that the community gets quality health service and care; promote the highest standards in medical education, science, art, and practice and ensure the rights and benefits of medical professionals (doctors)
and act as their representatives. Currently, EMA has more than 4000 physician members and has a presence in five regions represented by its 10 branch offices in Gondar, Mekelle, Bahir Dar, Dessie, Jimma, Adama, Harare, Hawassa, D/Markos, and Arba Minch. Its headquarter is located in Addis Ababa. To ensure the participation of members at a different level, different networks and interest groups had been established, namely EMA-Junior Doctor Network (JDN)and EMA -Network of Diaspora Doctors, etc. EMA also publishes the Ethiopian Medical Journal (EMJ).
EMA’s scope of work includes: -
- Strengthening Human Resources for Health through Increased Capacity of Ethiopian Medical Association, with CDC Ethiopia
- Healthy diet policy implementation advocacy project, Global Health Advocacy Incubator and Ministry of Health and EFDA
- Fostering EMA's Capacity to Promote CPD & Evidence-Based Learning, With USAID Ethiopia
- CPD implementation advocacy project with FMoH and consortium of a professional association
- Establish new online education platform with World Medical Association and World Continuing Education Alliance to improve CPD in Ethiopia
- Develop Compassionate, Respectful, and Caring Health Workforce project, in consortium with 7 professional associations, donated by FMoH
- COVID-19 HRH emergency response project- Phase I, implemented collaboration with MOH and 5 professional associations
EMA’s major clients include the Government of Ethiopia including Ministry of Health, Ministry of Science and Higher education, Universities, World medical Association, Ethiopian Academy of Science, Higher Education Relevance and Quality Assurance Agency, World Continuing Education Alliance, IFC, USAID, World Bank, WHO, GHAI, Vital strategies, etc. Some of its selected projects are as below:-
- USAID, Ethiopia: Health Workforce Improvement Program.
- USAID, Ethiopia: Malaria Diagnosis and Treatment project with ICAP and Ethiopian Public health Laboratory association.
- Vital Strategies/Resole to save lives/FMoH, Ethiopia: COVID-19 Human Resource for Health Emergency response Phase-II project.
- FMoH and DFID, Ethiopia: Reproductive, Maternal, and Neonatal Health Innovation. 5.GAVI/FMoH, Ethiopia: Integrated Approach to Empower Health Care Facilities on Immunization.
Dr. Tegbar Yigzaw is the President of the Ethiopian Medical Association. Dr. Tegbar is a physician, public health specialist, and human resource for health (HRH) expert with more than 18 years of work experience with Ethiopia’s health and higher education systems. His experience gives him a robust understanding of the health system and medical education system. For close to 13 years, he led Jhpiego’s Health Workforce-related programs taking on greater responsibilities over the years. At present, he is the Chief of Party for USAID’s Health Workforce Improvement Program at Jhpiego.
Between 2012 and 2019, he served as the Technical Director for the USAID-funded Strengthening Human Resources for Health Project at Jhpiego. He supported the Government of Ethiopia to develop a national HRH strategic plan; strengthen accreditation systems; establish national licensing examinations; reform curricula; strengthen internal quality assurance systems in higher education institutions; design and roll out faculty development programs; standardize and institutionalize in-service training and continuing professional development systems, and generate HRH research and evidence. He is also a board member of the Ethiopian Public Health Association, deputy chair of Eastern Africa Health Professions Educators Association, and Ethiopian representative of the Network Towards Unity for Health. Dr. Tegbar currently chairs the COVID-19 Advisory Council, which is established by about a dozen health professional associations to support national efforts to prevent and control the epidemic.