April 29, 2005 - Asmara

Health is a fundamental human right, recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), and the Constitution of the World Health Organization (1946). Health is also an essential component of development, vital to a nation's growth and internal stability.

It can be argued that to have good health is far more important than being rich, having a happily married life or having an interesting and well-paid job. Health determines what we can achieve in life, where we can go, our state of mind in most cases and our ability to make our own decisions. Good health then is vital if we are to make the most of their lives. That is why most of the nations prioritize the health sector over other sectors and allocate lion’s share of their budget to meet this need. But the health sector doesn’t seem prioritized in Eritrea.

Annual reports from World Health Organization and other international organizations rank Eritrea as one of the few countries with a very poor health services. Eritrea is a newly born nation with most of its health infrastructures laid by its colonizer. And since most of the colonizers made Asmara their seats, almost all of the health services giving sectors were built here in the capital. And the dwellers of Asmara were said to get better health care services as compared to the people in other regions of the country.

However, the number of dwellers in the capital has been increasing in a dramatic rate since independence, particularly after 1998. But currently, the number and the capacity of the health centers didn’t increase, as it should have been. The supplies of medicine in the country have become irregular and the qualifications of drugstore owners are questionable. The previous centers fall short of specialists and use outdated instruments. As a result, the growing demand for the health services cannot be coupled with the necessary services. This being a sad story, the closing of the previous hospitals that used to give health services has worsened the problem in the capital.
 

Hospitem - Ospedale Italiano Ente Morale (also known as E-Nile) is one of the Italian built hospital that had been operating in Asmara. This hospital had a number of local and international visitors and was famous for its specialists and modern instruments. Nevertheless, to everyone’s disappointment, the Government of Eritrea closed the Hospital and disbanded the employees for unknown reasons. Hospitem - Ospedale Italiano Ente Morale ( A hospital closed for more than seven years ) The surprising thing is that it has been more than seven years since it stopped operation and the building is still closed with most of its instruments left spoiled and damaged in every room. The closing of this big hospital still the talk of the city and the dwellers and government officials have not uttered a word to justify its decision. How can this be justified? The inability to import the modern medical instruments and medicines can be partially justified by the shortage of foreign currency being faced by the nation. Rather, the closing merely justifies the negligence of the government to the public need. In another development, rumors in the city indicate that National security forces closed the hospital because of the proximity of the building to the office of the President. They articulate that anyone who manages to reach the upper floor of the hospital can easily have a clear access to most of the buildings in compounds of the office of the president. Whatever reasons or justification could be given, this lofty decision plainly points the government’s priority to other sectors over the health sector.