A medical care program for Ethiopian Jewish migrants in Addis Ababa

In May 1990, the Ethiopian Jews--who for centuries had lived as peasants in isolated rural villages in northwestern Ethiopia--migrated en masse to Addis Ababa. In July, 39 deaths occurred in this community of approximately 22,000 people. When this was reported in Israel the Ethiopian Jews already living there staged a demonstration at the Knesset claiming that their relatives in Ethiopia were being neglected by the Jewish organizations providing aid to the Ethiopian people. In response, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee rapidly developed a comprehensive medical program during a 3-week period commencing on August 20. During the ensuing months there was a rapid fall in the mortality rate in the Jewish community. On 24-25 May 1991, as rebel armies were preparing to enter the city, almost the entire Jewish population remaining in Ethiopia was airlifted to Israel.