Ethiopia's Health Minister, Dr. Mekdes Daba, announced a series of new reforms and digital innovations for the upcoming 2018 fiscal year. The announcement was made at a meeting in Adama to evaluate the 2017 health system performance and unveil plans for the new year.

Minister Mekdes emphasized that the goal of these reforms is to enhance the quality, safety, and fairness of health services across the nation. A key pillar of the new strategy is a comprehensive health sector reform aimed at identifying and addressing existing gaps to ensure that high-quality, accessible, and equitable care is available to all citizens.

"We will implement new procedures to make health service delivery more efficient," said Minister Mekdes, underscoring the government's commitment to improving public health outcomes.

In her remarks, Dr. Mekdes highlighted the crucial role of human resources, stating that the ministry will focus on supporting and empowering healthcare professionals to boost their capacity. She also noted that the new plan will tackle complex issues within the health system.

According to ENA, a significant part of this transformation will be the integration of digital technology. Dr. Mekdes stressed the vital importance of digital tools and announced plans to implement new digital innovations in the 2018 fiscal year. This initiative, she explained, is part of a collaborative agreement with stakeholders to make health services more efficient and combat both communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Furthermore, the Minister revealed that the government is working to foster competition among healthcare institutions. As part of this effort, new national standards and grading criteria have been developed and are ready for implementation.