Growing up in Ethiopia, Mahlet Takele saw firsthand the vulnerability of poor health systems to epidemic disease.
“I knew that HIV was a big deal because it was killing a lot of people,” says Takele, from Bahir-Dar, a city with one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the early 2000s. “People were dying because their needs were unmet by broken health systems limited by a lack of resources and overburdened staff.”
Ethiopia also struggled with high maternal and child mortality rates.
“My grandmother was pregnant 14 times, but lost two babies at birth and another two after birth,” Takele says. “Mothers, newborns and children in developing countries are the world’s most vulnerable people, and I want to change that.”
Takele is a 2016 graduate of the School’s Health Informatics and Health Information Management (HIHIM) program, a unique and experiential undergraduate degree within the Department of Health Services. The program has given Takele a strong understanding of health care data and health information technology, as well as the management and leadership skills necessary to transform health systems, she says.
Takele plans to continue her education in hospital administration or international health. And she dreams of one day running an international NGO to set up a series of clinics in countries such as Ethiopia. The clinics would give mothers safe places to give birth and would provide families the quality of health care they need.
“I want everyone to understand that health care is a human right,” Takele says. “Your race, income and where you’re from should not impact the quality of care you receive.”