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The Impact of the Global Pandemic COVID-19 in Relation to Diplomatic Practice: Ethio-China Health Diplomacy

Received: 5 November 2021     Accepted: 25 November 2021     Published: 11 December 2021
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Abstract

The aim of this study was to find out the effect of the global pandemic on the health diplomacy between Ethiopia and China. This study also evaluated the efficiency of the Ethiopian health system to tackle COVID-19 and the contribution of this pandemic in transforming the country’s health system. The health sector of Ethiopia relies on other international organizations and donors. As a result of this, the health system is porous and not capable to give immediate response for pandemics and emergency cases. Ethiopia, as a poor country with fragile health system has not copped up with the increase in COVID-19 patient loads across the country. The FDRE Health Policy, which has been the policy of the country for 30 years since 1993, has put the control of communicable disease, epidemics and disease related to malnutrition and poor living condition as first priorities. Yet, the country has not implemented the policy on the ground and the system has not been efficient to tackle the global pandemic COVID-19. To do this study, qualitative method was utilized and data was collected through interview and document analysis. A total of seven people were interviewed from different organizations. These interviewees were from Ministry of Health, St. Paul Hospital, Ministry of Finance, Eka Hospital, Chinese Embassy and MCM General Hospital. More than 40 articles, news reports, the Ethiopian health polices – both the working health policy and the one in a draft stage, and bulletins of WHO were analyzed. Results revealed that the Ethiopian health policy had a gap and the system lacked preparedness to tackle the pandemic in the beginning of the outbreak. In addition to this, the result indicated that the Ethio-China’s health diplomacy was positively impacted by COVID-19 and as a result it brought opportunities to strengthen their cooperation. Thus, it is recommended that Ethiopia should revise its policy to make health as one of its priorities and continue its relation with China to work together in the health sector.

Published in Journal of Political Science and International Relations (Volume 4, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.jpsir.20210404.13
Page(s) 143-153
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

COVID-19, Pandemic, Health Diplomacy, Health Policy

References
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    Abebaw Zerihun. (2021). The Impact of the Global Pandemic COVID-19 in Relation to Diplomatic Practice: Ethio-China Health Diplomacy. Journal of Political Science and International Relations, 4(4), 143-153. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20210404.13

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    Abebaw Zerihun. The Impact of the Global Pandemic COVID-19 in Relation to Diplomatic Practice: Ethio-China Health Diplomacy. J. Polit. Sci. Int. Relat. 2021, 4(4), 143-153. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20210404.13

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    AMA Style

    Abebaw Zerihun. The Impact of the Global Pandemic COVID-19 in Relation to Diplomatic Practice: Ethio-China Health Diplomacy. J Polit Sci Int Relat. 2021;4(4):143-153. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20210404.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jpsir.20210404.13,
      author = {Abebaw Zerihun},
      title = {The Impact of the Global Pandemic COVID-19 in Relation to Diplomatic Practice: Ethio-China Health Diplomacy},
      journal = {Journal of Political Science and International Relations},
      volume = {4},
      number = {4},
      pages = {143-153},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jpsir.20210404.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20210404.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jpsir.20210404.13},
      abstract = {The aim of this study was to find out the effect of the global pandemic on the health diplomacy between Ethiopia and China. This study also evaluated the efficiency of the Ethiopian health system to tackle COVID-19 and the contribution of this pandemic in transforming the country’s health system. The health sector of Ethiopia relies on other international organizations and donors. As a result of this, the health system is porous and not capable to give immediate response for pandemics and emergency cases. Ethiopia, as a poor country with fragile health system has not copped up with the increase in COVID-19 patient loads across the country. The FDRE Health Policy, which has been the policy of the country for 30 years since 1993, has put the control of communicable disease, epidemics and disease related to malnutrition and poor living condition as first priorities. Yet, the country has not implemented the policy on the ground and the system has not been efficient to tackle the global pandemic COVID-19. To do this study, qualitative method was utilized and data was collected through interview and document analysis. A total of seven people were interviewed from different organizations. These interviewees were from Ministry of Health, St. Paul Hospital, Ministry of Finance, Eka Hospital, Chinese Embassy and MCM General Hospital. More than 40 articles, news reports, the Ethiopian health polices – both the working health policy and the one in a draft stage, and bulletins of WHO were analyzed. Results revealed that the Ethiopian health policy had a gap and the system lacked preparedness to tackle the pandemic in the beginning of the outbreak. In addition to this, the result indicated that the Ethio-China’s health diplomacy was positively impacted by COVID-19 and as a result it brought opportunities to strengthen their cooperation. Thus, it is recommended that Ethiopia should revise its policy to make health as one of its priorities and continue its relation with China to work together in the health sector.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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    AB  - The aim of this study was to find out the effect of the global pandemic on the health diplomacy between Ethiopia and China. This study also evaluated the efficiency of the Ethiopian health system to tackle COVID-19 and the contribution of this pandemic in transforming the country’s health system. The health sector of Ethiopia relies on other international organizations and donors. As a result of this, the health system is porous and not capable to give immediate response for pandemics and emergency cases. Ethiopia, as a poor country with fragile health system has not copped up with the increase in COVID-19 patient loads across the country. The FDRE Health Policy, which has been the policy of the country for 30 years since 1993, has put the control of communicable disease, epidemics and disease related to malnutrition and poor living condition as first priorities. Yet, the country has not implemented the policy on the ground and the system has not been efficient to tackle the global pandemic COVID-19. To do this study, qualitative method was utilized and data was collected through interview and document analysis. A total of seven people were interviewed from different organizations. These interviewees were from Ministry of Health, St. Paul Hospital, Ministry of Finance, Eka Hospital, Chinese Embassy and MCM General Hospital. More than 40 articles, news reports, the Ethiopian health polices – both the working health policy and the one in a draft stage, and bulletins of WHO were analyzed. Results revealed that the Ethiopian health policy had a gap and the system lacked preparedness to tackle the pandemic in the beginning of the outbreak. In addition to this, the result indicated that the Ethio-China’s health diplomacy was positively impacted by COVID-19 and as a result it brought opportunities to strengthen their cooperation. Thus, it is recommended that Ethiopia should revise its policy to make health as one of its priorities and continue its relation with China to work together in the health sector.
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Author Information
  • School of Diplomacy and International Relations, College of Leadership and Governance, Ethiopian Civil Service University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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