THE NATIONAL HEALTH DEVELOPMENT NETWORK OF ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The social goal of "health for all by the year 2000" (HF N2000) through primary health I care (PHC) is adopted by the nations of the world with full recognition and acceptance of I the close interrelationship between health and socio-economic development since, as has ; often been said, health leads to, and also depends upon improved conditions of life. This was reiterated at Alma-Ata when it was declared that, as an integral part of socio-economic development, good health for the whole population cannot be attained through the efforts of the health sector alone but requires coordination with the activities of other sectors (I ). Such I coordination is particularly important in developing countries where resources are scarce. : Hence, the neeed for the establishment of national health development networks (NHDN) where: I. "health development" is defined as "the process which enables the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being of the individual, the family and the community r to be improved, in the broader framework of socio-economic development " (2) and 2. NHDN is defined as "an institutional arrangement whereby a country can mobilize, organize, coordinate and strengthen its own technical capacities to meet the challenge of achieving "health for all by the year 2000" (2). The Ethiopian NHDN or NHDN-E is expected to serve such a purpose through the coordinated efforts of the relevant government agencies.