St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College– SPHMMC shared a post on Facebook:
“SPHMMC Moves Closer to Establishing Ethiopia’s First Liver Transplant Center
St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC) is making strong progress to set up Ethiopia’s first liver transplant center.
Dr. Muluken Tesfaye, Provost of SPHMMC, recently met with Dr. Kidist Kidane Yimam, a U.S.-based liver transplant specialist of Ethiopian origin, who has been leading the establishment of the Liver Transplant Program in Ethiopia for the past few years. In partnership with California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), Sutter Health – San Francisco, where she works as a Transplant Hepatologist and the Medical Director of CPMC’s Autoimmune Liver Disease program, Dr. Kidist has been training SPHMMC physician specialists and transplant surgical staff and helping mobilize resources for the project.
Both Dr. Muluken and Dr. Kidist underlined the urgent need to move faster in establishing the center. At this meeting, they have created a multidisciplinary steering committee to establish the transplant center in an efficient manner, along with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health. They stressed that the program should focus on building the skills of Ethiopian doctors and nurses so that, in the future, the transplant service can be fully managed by local professionals.
Dr. Muluken thanked Dr. Kidist for her strong commitment and ongoing support, not only in training but also in improving hospital equipment and resources—key for the long-term success of the program.
‘This collaboration is not only about doing Ethiopia’s first liver transplant,’ Dr. Muluken said. ‘It is about building lasting capacity so Ethiopians can get life-saving treatment at home.’
SPHMMC vice provosts Dr. Lemi Belay, Dr. Ewenat Gebrehanna, Dr. Wuletaw Chane, the hepatobilliary surgeon leading this project from SPHMMC along with Dr. Kidist, and other senior physicians have joined the discussion.
This initiative marks a major step forward in developing life saving surgical care in Ethiopia and improving access to critical health services for patients in need.
The team will continue to work together and hopes to see this project to full fruition in the near future.”
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