St.Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College

Dr. Abdulfetah Speaks: A Vision Realized A vision born more than a decade ago is now a reality. Yesterday, SPHMMC inaugurated its state-of-the-art Fetal Diagnostic & Intervention Center. Dr. Abdulfetah Abdulkadir, SPHMMC’s first MFM specialist and former Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology, shares how the journey began. Here is an excerpt from his story: I still remember the beginning of this journey. It was February 2014, when St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College launched Ethiopia’s first Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) fellowship program. At that time, my vision was bigger than simply starting a training program. I wanted to help build a strong foundation for maternal-fetal medicine in Ethiopia—to train specialists, strengthen our health system, and provide mothers and unborn babies with the specialized care they deserved. The first fellows were Professor Delayehu Bekele and Dr. Balkachew Nigatu. They were committed, hardworking, and passionate about the field. We spent those early years building the program step by step. I had previously had the opportunity to train abroad, and I knew how valuable international exposure could be. So, during the fellows’ training, I worked to create an opportunity for them to observe advanced fetal medicine services at King’s College Hospital in London. They spent two weeks there, seeing how fetal diagnosis and intervention were organized and delivered. That experience had a lasting impact on us. I remember thinking: Why should mothers in Ethiopia have to travel abroad to receive this kind of care? Why can’t we build it here? That question became a dream. We began imagining a future where Ethiopia could have a center capable of diagnosing fetal conditions early and, when possible, intervening before birth. It was not an easy dream. Building specialized services requires trained professionals, equipment, experience, institutional commitment, and, most importantly, patience. Over the years, the MFM fellowship program continued to grow. We trained more specialists, and many of them went on to serve in universities and tertiary hospitals across the country. Slowly, the field of maternal-fetal medicine began to take root in Ethiopia. Today, standing at the inauguration of the Fetal Diagnostic and Intervention Unit at SPHMMC, I feel a deep sense of gratitude and fulfillment. What we imagined more than a decade ago is now becoming a reality. This achievement does not belong to one person. It is the result of the dedication of many colleagues, trainees, hospital leaders, partners, and professionals who believed in the vision and continued working toward it. For me, this is one of the most rewarding parts of the journey: seeing people we trained become leaders themselves and seeing a dream that once seemed distant become a service that can help mothers and babies today. We started with a vision in 2014. Today, we are seeing that vision come to life. And the most important part is that care can now begin before birth.

Pioneering Care: The Past, Present, and Future of Fetal Medicine at SPHMMC   When we established Ethiopia’s first dedicated Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) unit at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College in 2016, we were driven by a fundamental clinical mandate: every pregnancy encompasses two patients the mother and the fetus each deserving precise, individualized care. At that time, fetal care in Ethiopia faced severe structural limitations. Operating out of a small, space-constrained facility with limited room for procedural expansion, our primary mission was to bridge a critical national gap by introducing advanced diagnostic scanning, detailed fetal anomaly assessments, and structured MFM fellowship training. Despite those early space constraints, our team laid a rigorous academic and clinical foundation. We launched the nation's inaugural MFM fellowship program, trained approximately 20 pioneering MFM specialists, and established life-saving intervention protocols most notably performing over 150 Intrauterine Transfusions (IUT) in a single year to treat severe fetal anemia. This high-volume transfusion initiative quickly became the largest of its kind in Africa, proving that complex, life-saving fetal therapy could be successfully delivered within our public health ecosystem. Today marks a historic turning point as we formally inaugurate our newly expanded, state-of-the-art Fetal Diagnostic & Intervention Center. We have outgrown our initial physical footprint and successfully transformed from a localized clinical unit into a high-volume national referral destination and regional center of excellence. Our facility now delivers comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic services ranging from high-resolution anomaly scans, aneuploidy screening, and fetal echocardiography to advanced intrauterine interventions. The impact of this transformation extends well beyond our borders: families now travel across national boundaries, including from Kenya, seeking specialized care for complex fetal conditions. Parallel to this, in our broader commitment to women’s health, we are advancing integrated cervical and breast cancer screening models to streamline early detection and care. By re-equipping our facility, modernizing our clinical spaces, and cultivating strong educational partnerships through ESOG and international collaborators, we have transitioned into a robust, integrated hub for clinical care, capacity building, and hands-on ultrasound training. Looking ahead from 2026 toward 2030, our vision is to establish SPHMMC as the preeminent, premier African hub for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, fetal therapy, and subspecialty innovation. We intend not merely to deliver evidence-based clinical care, but to actively generate original evidence through multicenter clinical trials, fetal imaging research, and digital health initiatives, including AI-assisted ultrasound diagnostics. Our strategic trajectory centers on building an advanced ultrasound training hub equipped with cutting-edge simulation technologies, train-the-trainer pathways, and structured international clinical attachments. Through strategic partnerships with international ultrasound companies, academic institutions, and global professional societies, we will expand regional fellow attachments, faculty exchanges, and telemedicine consultations across East Africa. Driven by our enduring motto, 'Healing Before Birth,' we remain deeply committed to elevating the standard of maternal and fetal healthcare, training the next generation of subspecialists, and safeguarding the lives of mothers and babies across the entire region. — Dr. Malede Birara Head, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology | SPHMMC

የጽንስ ምርመራና ሕክምና ማዕከል በቅዱስ ጳውሎስ ሆስፒታል ተመርቆ ተከፈተ ቅዱስ ጳውሎስ ሆስፒታል ሚሊኒየም ሕክምና ኮሌጅ የልህቀት ማዕከል በማድረግ ያቋቋመውን የጽንስ ምርመራና ሕክምና ማዕ ከል(Fetal Diagnostic & Intervention Center ) በዛሬው ቀን ተመርቆ በይፋ ተከፍቷል፡፡ በምረቃ ስነ ስርዓቱ ላይ የተገኙት የጤና ሚኒስትር ዴኤታዋ ክብርት ፍሬሕይወት አበበ እንደተናገሩት የእናቶችና ሕጻናት ሞትን ለመቀነስ እንዲህ ዓይነቱ ማእከላት ትልቅ ሚና አላቸው ብለዋል፡፡ ማእከሉ የእናቶችን ጤና በመጠበቅ ሕጻናት ከመወለዳቸው በፊት በማህጸን ውሰጥ እያሉ በቂ ክትትልና ህክምና በማድረግ ጤናማ ትውልድ ለመገንባት ያስችላል በማለት አስረድተዋል፡፡ ክብርት የጤና ሚኒስትር ዴኤታዋ ክብርት ሰኻረላ አብዱላሂ ማእከሉ መንግስት የጤና ቱሪዝምን ላይ በትኩረት ሰጥቶ አየሰራ እንደሚገኝ ገልጸው : ይህ ማዕከልም በዚህ ረገድ የሚያበረክተው አስተዋጽኦ የጎላ ነው ብለዋል፡፡ ወደፊትም ሚኒስተር መስሪያ ቤታቸው በዚህ ረገድ ድጋፍ ያደርጋል ብለዋል፡፡ የኮሌጁ ፕሮቮስት ዶር ሙሉቀን ተስፋዬ በበኩላቸው ኮሌጁ ለሕብረተሰቡ የሚሰጠው አገልግሎትምንግዜ የላቀ እንዲሆን ይሰራል ብለዋል፡፡ ይህ ማእከልም አንዱ ማሳያ ነው ሲሉ ገልጸዋል፡፡ በተጨማሪም ማእከሉ የሕክምና መስጫ ብቻ ሳይሆን ከሀገር ውስጥ እና ከተለያዩ አፍሪካ ሀገራት የሚመጡ ከፍተኛ ሐኪሞችንም ለማሰልጠን ያስችላል፡፡ በአሁኑ ወቅት ቁጥራችው ከሁለት መቶ በላይ አፍሪካውያን ተማሪዎች በኮሌጁ ትምህርታቸውን በመከታተል ላይ ይገኛሉ በማለት ፕሮቮስቱ ገልጸዋል፡፡ ማዕከሉ የሕፃናትን የጤና ሁኔታ ከመወለዳቸው በፊት ( በማሕጸን እያሉ ) የጤና ችግራቸውን በመለየትና ተገቢውን ክትትልና ሕክምና ይሠጣል፡፡የሕክምናማእከሉ ዋና ተግባራት መካከል የፅንሱን የጤና ሁኔታ በቅድሚያ መመርመር፡የልብ፣ የአንጎል፣ የአከርካሪና ሌሎች የፅንስ እክሎችን መለየት፡የመቀንጨር ችግር ያለበትን ጽንስ መለየትና ማከም ፡በእርግዝና ወቅት በእናቱቱ ላይ እና በጽንሱ ላይ ከፍተኛ የጤና ስጋት ይሆናሉ የተባሉ በሽታዎችን ማከም ፡ መከታተልእና ማዳን፡የፅንሱን እድገትና አቀማመጥ በዝርዝር መከታተል፡እንደ ዳወን ሲንድሮም ያሉ የዘረመል ችግሮችንና በጽንስ ወቅት የታዩ አካላዊ ጉድለቶችን ከመወለዱ በፊት በመለየት፡ፅንሱ ገና በማህፀን ውስጥ እያለ ሕክምና በመስጠት ማከም እና ሌሎችም ተዛማጅ ሕክምና አገልግሎቶች እንደሚሰጥ በምረቃ ስነ ሥርዓት ወቅት ተገልጿል፡፡ ማዕከሉ ዘመናዊ የሕክምና መሣሪያዎችና በዘርፉ የሰለጠኑ ባለሙያዎች የተሟሉለት ነው፡፡ ማዕከሉ በዘመናዊ መሣሪያዎችና በሰው ኃይል አቅም በአገራችን ከፍተኛ ደረጃ ላይ የሚገኝ የፅንስ ምርመራና ሕክምና ማዕከል እንደሆነም ተገልጿል።

🌟 SPHMMC Receives Generous Radiotherapy Equipment Donation from RAD-AID International St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC) extends its heartfelt gratitude to RAD-AID International for a generous donation of advanced radiotherapy dosimetry and quality assurance equipment valued at approximately USD 100,000. The donation includes the Sun Nuclear 1D Scanner, Daily QA3 Scanner, and IC Profiler MR Beam Scanning System—critical technologies that will significantly strengthen the safety, accuracy, and quality of radiotherapy services at SPHMMC. We sincerely appreciate the exemplary leadership and coordination of Dr. Joseph Weygand, whose commitment continues to strengthen this impactful partnership. We are also deeply grateful to Mr. Sumeer Hussain, RAD-AID volunteer Medical Physicist, for his tireless technical support and remote guidance to our Medical Physics team. His expertise has been instrumental in integrating these resources into our clinical practice. This generous contribution is more than equipment—it is an investment in safer cancer care, stronger local capacity, and better outcomes for our patients. Together, we are advancing precision radiotherapy and strengthening cancer care in Ethiopia. Thank you, RAD-AID International, for your steadfast commitment to global health and humanitarian partnership. #SPHMMC #RADAID #Radiotherapy #CancerCare #MedicalPhysics #GlobalHealth #PrecisionMedicine #HealthForAll #PartnershipForHealth

ሐኪማችንን እናሰተወውቃችሁ! ዶር ማሩ ጋማ ጠቅላላ የቀዶ ሕክምና ስፔሻሊስትና የሕጻናት ቀዶ ሕክምና ስፔሻሊስት ናቸው፡፡Meet Our Doctor! Meet Dr. Maru Garuma, a General Surgery Specialist with a subspecialty in Pediatric Surgery, providing specialized and compassionate surgical care for children.

Coming soon!