Ethiopia: Direct Relief Article

Uncovering a Hidden Crisis: How One Surgeon Sparked a Movement in Ethiopia

When Dr. Marinus Koning first traveled to Ethiopia after retirement, he expected to perform a few life-saving surgeries. What he didn’t expect was the overwhelming demand for help—families lining up with children suffering from hydrocephalus and spina bifida, conditions caused by preventable neural tube defects (NTDs).

That first mission uncovered a public health crisis hiding in plain sight.

As Dr. Koning and local partners trained neurosurgeons and opened pediatric surgical centers across Ethiopia, it became clear: the more surgical access increased, the more families came forward. The demand was staggering—and it wasn’t just a clinical problem, it was systemic.

An in-depth feature now available on Undark chronicles this journey and the urgent need for primary prevention. With roughly 131 neural tube defect cases per 10,000 births in regions like Tigray—and a heartbreaking mortality rate—experts are calling it a public health emergency.

The culprit? A lack of folic acid in the diets of Ethiopian women. While over 80% of women of reproductive age are at risk due to folate deficiency, Ethiopia currently lacks mandatory folic acid fortification.

But there’s hope. ReachAnother and partners are supporting new efforts to fortify salt, a widely consumed staple, as a more effective path to prevention.

📚 Read the full story on Undark: They Didn’t Realize How Bad the Problem Was Until They Created a Solution