Covering research carried out by Kloos and his Ethiopian colleagues and between the mid 1970s and 2024, this book analyses the changing tapestry of health problems, disasters, and interventions In Ethiopia. Recurrent famines, civil wars, epidemics, and the centralized, urban-based health system, exacerbated by poverty, the urban-based health care system, and environmental degradation constituted major impediments and inequities in health development, which are only slowly being overcome.
This book provides a broadly based examination of the epidemiology and control of some of Ethiopia's major diseases, including malaria, acute diarrhea, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and COVID-19. It also examines the accessibility and utilization of health services using geographical methods.
Moreover, the book sheds light on the strategies and programs adopted by the Ethiopian government and international organizations to manage and prevent health crises and disasters. It evaluates the efficacy of their programs and the achievements in primary health care development and famine relief, as well as negative health impacts of the national resettlement and irrigation programs. Results of these studies are context-specific and culturally sensitive> thus they can inform policymakers, healthcare professionals, and academics In their search for effective and sustainable health development programs.
Health, Disease, and Disaster in Ethiopia is more than a book; it is an invitation to engage in a crucial dialogue on one of the most critical issues of our time - public health in developing nations. It is a must-read for those keen on understanding the complexities of health, disease, and disaster management in a dynamic and diverse African context.
Kloos, Helmut: - Born in Steinbach, Kreis Giessen, Germany in 1939, Helmut Kloos immigrated to the United States, earning his BA and MA in geography at California State University Fresno and his PhD in medical geography at the University of California Davis. This included training in epidemiology, public health, community health, nutrition, and medical anthropology.Kloos held various academic positions in the USA, Ethiopia, and Brazil, teaching medical geography, research methods, and resources and conservation courses for eight years at Addis Ababa University He also lent his expertise on human behavior in schistosomiasis transmission and snail control using plant molluscicides as a consultant to the World Health Organization. He also worked as a consultants with USAID and the ministries of health in Ethiopia, Kenya, an Egypt.He is an Associate Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Science and has been a reviewer for the Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, the Ethiopian Medical Journals, Lancet, and the American journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Collaborative research with Ethiopian colleagues and students in epidemiology, medical geography, environmental health, health services accessibility and utilization, and traditional resulted in the publication of eleven books, including Health, Disease, and Disasters in Ethiopia: Five Decades of Research and over 300 scientific articles, book chapters, and conference papers. Since his retirement, Kloos has been mentoring Ethiopian graduate students in their research.
