My entry point into the continent of Africa was the city of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Addis as it is fondly called by Ethiopians, is an historic city, widely regarded as the capital of the African continent, where the Organization for African Unity was formed, so it is appropriate that my trip begin there. Also Ethiopia was one of the founder countries of both the League of Nations and the UN.
The Ethiopians are a wonderful, dignified and handsome people, with high cheekbones and large expressive eyes. Addis itself unfortunately is a crowded, noisy and quite dirty city somewhat reminiscent of the uglier cities in India, with large potholes and overflowing garbage dumpsters. Our guide for the day was named ‘Million’, a somewhat lugubrious gentleman with an occasional engaging smile. He wryly informed me that there are more Ethiopian doctors in Chicago than in the entire country of Ethiopia. We were driven around the city in a beat-up old van. It was interesting to see that almost all the vehicles on the street were equally old and beat-up, most of them Toyotas– I was informed that it was because they had the highest and best availability of spare parts. The other interesting thing was the presence of a number of cars made in China, and the number of UN-related vehicles. As the day we arrived happened to be the day of the late Prime Minister’s funeral, there were long snarls of traffic. The driver of our van, I was informed, had been recently jailed for a week because of playing music during national mourning. All around the city were banners with pictures of the late prime minister, remembering and honoring him for his 21 year contribution to Ethiopia’s growth, which involved boosting agriculture and the economy. We passed a building which had a long queue snaking around it. I was informed that it was the passport office and that all the people in the queue were applying for passports in order to emigrate. A part of the city is called Piazza and another Mercato – testimony to the period of its Italian occupation during World War II. We visited several clinics and some hospitals. One of the clinics we visited was positioned just next to an Ethiopian Orthodox church and it was interesting to me that emerging from it was a ululating incantation quite similar to the muezzin’s call for prayer from a mosque. The private diagnostic centers we visited were small and some had Chinese CT scanners, another interesting phenomenon to me. Their waiting rooms were uniformly crowded, testimony to the necessity for and utilization of healthcare by the public. The Ethiopian food I ate at dinner reminded me of the Ethiopian restaurant in New Haven, CT where we used to eat during residency, with the bread similar to our own dosa. As it was a very hectic day, I did not unfortunately get much time to see the sights, but did see that the Chinese government had funded the creation of a massive and imposing center for the African Union.
I learned that teleradiology has the potential to make tremendous impact in this country, as it does in much of Africa. There is a radiologist shortage, as there is in most parts of the world, and the radiologists who are there are simply unable to keep up with the growing healthcare needs of the country.