Selected Speeches Of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I
PUBLIC HEALTH
...We have devoted particular attention to the material and physical well-being of Our people through a programme for public health. Today, We are opening and dedicating to the memory of Our regretted and well-beloved daughter, the Princess Tsahai Memorial Hospital which will not only provide for the treatment of mothers and children, but will, also, constitute the first centre of medical instruction and training in Ethiopia. ...
November 3, 1951.
... The raising of Our country's standards of public health occupies an important and prominent place in the plans We have prepared for the peaceful growth and development of Our nation. To improve conditions of life is by itself to benefit present and future generations, and however high the cost, this work must be accomplished. Agreements have been executed with the International Co-operation Administration for the furnishing of aid to assist Our efforts in this direction. We long ago determined that, with the help of Our people, no one in Ethiopia would lack adequate medical treatment because of his inability to pay for it, and a plan to implement the goal has already been prepared. ...
November 9, 1957.
... Much has been achieved in the field of public health which is of equal rank with education in assuring the welfare of Our people, and much more is planned for the future. Discussions held with the Government of the United States of America and the World Health Organisation, a Specialised Agency of the United Nations, have resulted in the conclusion of an agreement whereby malaria-infested areas of Our country, which today, despite their richness and fertility, remain uninhabited by man or beast, will be rid of this plague and will once more become available to Our economy. Many of these areas, if freed from malaria, can be irrigated and thus make an immeasurable contribution to the growth of Our economy...
November 2, 1958.
... The increase in the number of our doctors has enabled Us to open new clinics and to achieve advances in the execution of Our public health programme. The successful pursuit, during the past year, of the anti-malaria campaign stands as a tribute to the devotion and co-operation of experts from the Ethiopian Government, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the United States Operations Mission to Ethiopia. We have also, to this end, established within the Ministry of Public Health an autonomous agency under an Order for the particular purpose of the eradication of malaria. The past year has brought, also, a challenge to Our energies and resourcefulness in meeting the severe conditions in Tigre, Eritrea, and Ogaden, resulting from locust invasions and lack of rainfall. We, Our Government, and Our people, have contributed to relieve the suffering of Our subjects in these regions. The United Nations International Children's Fund has contributed powdered milk, the Government of the United States of America, the Soviet Red Cross and Red Crescent, thousands of tons of cereals, and the people of Sweden, medicines and other medical aid. We, in this adversity, are deeply grateful for such exemplary manifestation of the brotherhood of man. It is hoped that greater and more efficient measures of control of the locust infestations in the Middle East may serve to remove a scourge which, from time to time has plagued Our peoples. On Our part, We have ordered the purchase of specially-equipped planes for the combatting of this destructive pestilence...
November 3. 1959.
... Just as education assures the development and well-being of man, so must man's body be free from the scourge and ravages of illness and disease, and in the field of public health, praiseworthy advances have been made in the expansion of public health facilities throughout Our Empire. Modern health centres have recently been established in a number of the larger towns, and several dozen clinics are being organized which will serve in smaller centres in the alleviation of disease. A modern and efficient Provincial Health Administration is being established in implementation of the health tax promulgated by Us and approved by Our Parliament to provide for the most efficient and effective administration of the revenue derived from this tax. Ethiopia is co-operating in the world-wide drive that is underway to eliminate malaria from the earth, and effective measures are being taken to this end following decisions reached at the World Health Organization's Malaria Conference held in Addis Ababa in November of last year...
November 2, 1960.
... Efforts for the alleviation of suffering and disease are advancing satisfactorily. Endemic diseases which have sapped the strength and will of so many of Our people for untold years are slowly yielding to the assaults mounted against them, and these efforts will continue unabated until they have achieved complete and permanent success. New clinics and hospitals have been opened, and today Our nation disposes of more medical facilities than ever before in its history. ...
November 21, 1963.
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Emperor Haile Sellassie First Theocracy Reign
Order of the Nyahbinghi
July 5, 2017