Dr. Godal and AHRI
Dr. Godal travelled to Ethiopia for the first time in 1970 to be the director at the Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI) in Addis Ababa. AHRI, a biomedical research institute, was founded in 1970 through the initiative of the Norwegian and Swedish Save the Children, and the Ministry of Health in Ethiopia. The Institute got its name from the Norwegian physician, Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen who first described the leprosy bacillus, Mycobacterium leprae. Dr. Godal worked as a director from 1970-1973 where he contributed to significant research on the leprosy bacillus.
In 2000 Dr. Godal dedicated US$15.000 to AHRI, funds which he received from the Thailand Prince Matridul Award for his effort in building research capacity in developing countries. As a consequence AHRI founded the Tore Godal Prize Trust, which has supported 23 young researchers doing work on infectious diseases since 2002. Dr. Godal visited old colleagues and many researchers who benefited from his donation at his recent visit to AHRI.
Meeting Health Minister Tewodros
Ethiopian Health Minister Tewodros invited Dr. Godal to Ethiopia to debate models for a common platform for health services between GAVI, the Global Fund and the World Bank, an initiative were Norway is involved. Moreover, the two discussed arrangements for The Taskforce for Innovative International Finance for Health Systems meeting to take place in New York in September. The Norwegian Prime Minister Stoltenberg and Dr. Tewodros are both members of this Taskforce. Lastly, Dr. Godal and Mr. Tewodros discussed the future vision of AHRI and how it can become a centre of excellence when it comes to capacity and research on HIV and TB.
Koraro Millennium Village
During his stay in Ethiopia Dr. Godal visited Koraro Millenium Village in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, together with Jeffrey Sachs. – What we saw was impressing, Dr. Godal said. - There is a coordinated effort in the areas of health, education, agriculture and infrastructure. The malaria infections in Koraro are reduced from 200 in 2006 to only 4 registered so far in 2009. The improvements in access to water have been great; dams are built by manual power and water from under the mountains has been laid in pipes to provide clean drinking water to the village, he continues. UN Millennium Village projects spend US$110 per person every year and experience great improvements in human development.
Dr. Godal’s global health career
Throughout his long carrier as an international public health specialist Dr. Godal has worked for the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Godal has long experience in addressing the health needs of developing countries and he has made important contributions within the fields of Tropical Diseases, in particular leprosy and malaria. Despite going into retirement a few times, Dr. Godal is currently a special advisor to the Norwegian Prime Minister of Norway on global health issues.
Norway supports health related development in Ethiopia through multilateral channels such as the Global Fund, GAVI, UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank. In 2003-2006 Norway supported AHRI with around 4 million NOK.