WHO-supported community health worker conducting house-to-house visits in an internally displaced persons camp in Kismayo, Jubaland. Credit: WHO/Ismail Taxta

Mogadishu, 6 February 2023 – The Government of Japan has recently allocated a grant to the World Health Organization (WHO) country office in Somalia to expand access to life-saving health care for vulnerable communities living in hard-to-reach areas that are severely impacted by the ongoing drought. With 7.8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, the current drought is one of the worst in Somalia’s history.

Recognizing the need for an urgent response to save lives, the Government of Japan has provided these funds through the Japanese Supplementary Budget. This funding will be used to strengthen community-based health and nutrition interventions, as well as support primary health care and nutrition stabilization centres in the hard-to-reach areas. This funding will allow WHO to bring health care close to these vulnerable communities living in catastrophic living conditions and improve access to basic and lifesaving health care services in some of the worst hit areas in the country. The funding will also be used for real-time detection and response to any epidemic by frontline health workers. 

The Government of Japan has been a global leader in enhancing universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals’ core principle to ensure that “no one is left behind.” This partnership between WHO and the Government of Japan will help to improve access to health care for drought-affected communities, especially those living in hard-to-reach areas and contribute to building a resilient primary health care system, which are foundational for achieving universal health coverage in fragile settings. 

“Ensuring that no one is left behind is central to the achievement of universal health coverage,” says H.E. Ken Okaniwa, Ambassador of Japan to Somalia. “This funding will support WHO and the Government of Somalia to meet the urgent health care needs of people affected by the severe drought and food insecurity crisis, including women and children who bear the brunt of these catastrophic events, as well as contributing to the resilience and capacity of the health system into the future.” 

Targeting 29 of the districts most affected by drought, the funding will support WHO to deploy community health workers in hard-to-reach areas and also provide outreach services for the vulnerable communities. Approximately 2.78 million vulnerable people including over 300 000 internally displaced people living in catastrophic and dire living conditions in these areas are expected to benefit from this expanded life-saving health care support.  

WHO will also provide essential medical supplies, including life-saving medicines, to the primary health care units and nutrition stabilization centres across these districts. This will help these basic health care units to meet the extra demand for health care and continue with routine and essential health care services without any disruption. As the epidemic risk is very high in these vulnerable communities owing to poor access to water and sanitation services, WHO’s support through the deployment of community health workers and community outreach services will ensure that frontline health workers detect and respond to any health threats early on.  

“We welcome this funding from the Government of Japan and extend our utmost gratitude for the support. We look forward to an ongoing partnership, rooted in our shared commitment to universal health coverage which is also anchored in building a resilient primary health care system,” said the WHO Representative to Somalia Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik. “With famine looming and millions of people impacted by the unprecedented drought, we must act now to save lives and prevent major outbreaks of infectious diseases. We know that in cases of prolonged food insecurity and famine, more people die from disease than from malnutrition and hunger combined. It will be children, women and other vulnerable people who will pay the price of our inaction. We have the tools to prevent children dying from malnutrition, to stop the spread of diseases like cholera and measles and to avert unnecessary, preventable deaths. With a coordinated, scaled-up response, made possible by donors like the Government of Japan, we can save thousands of lives if we act now.”

Background information

WHO has been able to reach nearly 6.3 million people, about 75% of the people who are in need, with life-saving treatments, essential health and nutrition interventions. These services are being delivered through over 2164 community health workers, 148 mobile outreach teams, 64 stabilization centres and 280 primary health care centres in drought-affected districts. Somalia is currently facing one of the most severe droughts in its history, with a looming famine and possibility of severe loss of life due to hunger, malnutrition and disease. Currently, 7.8 million people are affected and 1.1 million are displaced (on top of 2.5 million who were already displaced) as they are in search of food, water, shelter, health care and any assistance available. Furthermore, the drought is increasing endemic-prone diseases, putting millions at risk. For example: 3.5 million persons lack sufficient access to water; and 6 million continue to face severe food shortages, with approximately 1.4 million children facing acute malnutrition, including 329 500 likely to become severely malnourished. Moreover, as of 31 December 2022, a total of 15 635 cases of cholera, including 87 deaths (case-fatality rate 0.6%), were reported from 26 drought-affected districts. In addition, 132 617 cases of acute diarrhoeal disease and 17 536 measles cases were also reported during the same period in the drought-affected districts.

For additional information, please contact:

Kyle DeFreitas
External Relations Officer
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Fouzia Bano
Communications Officer
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Related links

WHO EMRO | WHO supports nationwide integrated immunization campaign in the midst of drought: 2.61 million children vaccinated against measles and polio | News | Somalia site 

WHO EMRO | Teamwork at all levels of WHO aims to save millions of lives in the greater Horn of Africa | News | Somalia site

The campaign comes against the backdrop of the drought that has seen a rise in the number of recorded cholera cases

Mogadishu, 22 January 2023 – A 5-day single-dose oral cholera vaccination campaign that aims to reach about one million people has been launched by the Ministry of Health and Human Services with support from UNICEF and the WHO. This house-to-house campaign aims to vaccinate 995 886 children aged one year and above including pregnant women in the 10 districts most effected by the drought - Daynile, Dharkenley, Hamar Jajab, Hodan, Khahda, Baidoa, Kismayo, Afgoye, Marka and Jowhar.

Based on the epidemiological trends, partners have worked diligently to develop detailed micro plans and deployed 1328 outreach teams each composed on 2 vaccinators, one social mobilizer and one data entry person to ensure that everyone in the target district gets at least one dose of the cholera vaccine.

“We are not waiting to let the situation spiral out of our hands like it happened in 2012 when close to 260 000 people died with half of them being children due to outbreaks of cholera and measles across the country. This time the government and the partners are well prepared, and this special campaign has been designed and launched in collaboration with WHO and UNICEF to help prevent unnecessary morbidities and mortalities in high-risk areas,” said the Federal Minister of Health Dr Ali Haji Adan. 

Cholera is an intestinal disease caused by bacteria that can be transmitted in contaminated water. It is especially dangerous for children who are malnourished and puts them at greater risk of dying. An estimated 6.4 million people face acute water shortages and poor sanitation in Somalia and 1.8 million children are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition a combination of which increases the likelihood of cholera infections among vulnerable populations. Official statistics from the Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services show that 15 635 cases of cholera and 88 deaths were reported in 26 drought affected districts of Somalia in 2022, with a 0.6% fatality rate.

Oral cholera vaccines are free, easy to administer and can help save life of people at risk of contracting cholera including children. In 2022, UNICEF and the WHO supported the Ministry of Health and Human Services to reach 897 086 people in the first oral cholera vaccination campaign and 888 092 people in the second campaign in 9 drought affected districts. Oral cholera vaccination campaigns  in Somalia are implemented in addition to strengthening implementation of water, sanitation and hygiene interventions, risk communication and community engagement, timely detection and investigation of cholera alerts and standard case management of cases in designated treatment facilities. It is noteworthy that the Banadir region has reported uninterrupted transmission of cholera since the drought of 2017.

“The drought continues to pose a serious risk to the health and well-being of children in Somalia,” said UNICEF Representative Wafaa Saeed. “Many families are facing enormous challenges to access basic necessities such as water and sanitation. As we work round the clock with the government and partners to improve delivery of these services, enabled by the generous support of our donors, we are using every means at our disposal to prevent disease and deaths. This vaccination campaign has therefore come at the right time.” she says. 

WHO Representative to Somalia Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik while considering the evolving cholera situation in Somalia as concerning said that, “As per WHO’s community- based surveillance, the number of suspected cases of measles and cholera have more than doubled this year as compared to the previous 2 years. Our continued outreach activities and vaccination campaigns have thus far kept the mortalities and morbidities to a minimum. Our last campaign in August 2022 helped vaccinate over one million Somalis. WHO will continue to support the federal and state ministries of health to reach out to newly displaced populations in distressed areas and this campaign is part of our ongoing endeavour to save every life in Somalia especially the most vulnerable like children and women.” 

Together, the Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services, UNICEF and the WHO are working to ensure that every person has access to the lifesaving cholera vaccine in addition to improved access to primary health care services and safe water and proper sanitation. 

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For more information, please contact:

Mukhtar Abdi Shube, Head of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) section, Ministry of Health, Federal Government of Somalia, Cette adresse email est protégée contre les robots des spammeurs, vous devez activer Javascript pour la voir.

Fouzia Bano – WHO Chief of Staff ai, Communications Officer, Cette adresse email est protégée contre les robots des spammeurs, vous devez activer Javascript pour la voir.  

Victor Chinyama – UNICEF Chief of Communication, Cette adresse email est protégée contre les robots des spammeurs, vous devez activer Javascript pour la voir.

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Note to editors

Please see the links below for additional information on recent oral cholera vaccination campaigns in Somalia:

Saving lives from cholera in drought-hit districts: WHO steps up vaccination campaign using oral cholera vaccines 

Stepping up humanitarian operations for drought: cholera vaccination campaign rolled out to protect over 900 000 Somalis in drought-affected districts 

Gavi - the Vaccine Alliance

Gavi has been instrumental in providing the support for helping with the stockpiling of the vaccine doses, its transportation to the designated locations and related operational costs to ensure timely launch of this single-dose cholera vaccine campaign across 10 drought-affected districts of Somalia.

MOGADISHU, 12 January 2023 – The World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office in Somalia, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, has initiated a capacity-building plan for first responders and hospital managers to strengthen critical trauma care services in the country with the aim of cutting down preventable mortalities within the “golden hour” in any mass causality event.

Following the deadly October 2022 twin-blasts, which left more than 100 people dead and another 300 injured, the WHO Country Office, in addition to providing medical care and supplies to the Federal Ministry of Health deployed a trauma operational and advisory team (TOpAT) from WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean to conduct a rapid assessment of the capacities of public hospitals in managing trauma and mass casualty events. This initiative helped to review existing capabilities and capacities in the country to manage mass causality events, both at the scene of the event and at the hospital, and develop plans to reduce preventable mortalities and long-term disabilities from injuries and provide best life-saving interventions in case of any such future incident.

The observations from TOpAT followed by numerous consultations with the Federal Ministry of Health, helped the WHO country team to come up with the idea of developing a short- and long-term plan for building the capacities of both frontline health care workers, including drivers, nurses and paramedics working on ambulances or emergency wards of hospitals and simultaneously build the capacities of the directors and senior managers of hospitals to help them prepare emergency wards and staff of health facilities for managing any such events in a professional, cost-effective and ready-to-serve manner.

By mobilizing its internal resources, WHO, with the support of the Regional Office, designed a customized 4-day community first aid responders (CFAR) training. A list of 40, including 16 females, paramedics, drivers and nurses working with both public and private hospital ambulances across Mogadishu were selected for this session. This hands-on training was held in 2 batches of 20 participants each from 11 to 24 December 2022 in Mogadishu. It helped participants learn the basic skills of ABCDE (airway, breathing, circulation, disability and exposure). The training was imparted by WHO trauma care experts, both from the WHO Regional Office and country office.

“I have been running an ambulance for the past 4 years and have responded to many of the mass causality events in and around Mogadishu, but until now, no one told me about such important skills, which can save lives or at least prevent disabilities. I really want to thank WHO for providing me with this opportunity and would highly recommend this for all paramedics, drivers and staff of all public and private ambulances and emergency ward health professionals,” said Abdizakaria, who attended the first batch of the 4-day CFAR training in Mogadishu. Participants from the second batch echoed identical observations.

Subsequently, WHO arranged a 4-day (16–20 December 2022) mass casualty management (MCM) training for 22 hospital directors and managers, including 5 females, selected by the Federal Ministry of Health from 5 public hospitals: Madina from Mogadishu, Dhusamareb and Galkayo from Galmudug, and Hudur and Afgoye from South West State. This training, held in Mogadishu, focused on imparting knowledge and skills to these senior managers about planning, implementation, monitoring, and accountability of managing any mass causality event and preparing emergency wards and staff to handle any such event by following the established standard operating procedures (SOPs). 

Both the CFAR and MCM training included simulation exercises conducted at the premises of the Madina hospital to help demonstrate the handling and management of the pre-, during and post-trauma events. WHO plans to cascade this CFAR and MCM training to other participating states. The Federal Ministry of Health has collected a list of 80 frontline staff from all states for CFAR training, which is scheduled to be rolled out and completed at the state level within the first quarter of 2023.

Director of Madina Hospital Dr Mohamed Abdirahman Jama while thanking WHO for undertaking this capacity-building initiative said that, “Trauma care and emergency ward management is perhaps one of the most neglected and least-funded areas in Somalia and I am glad that a very structured effort has been rolled out to help health managers learn the much needed professional skills that can help them to prepare hospitals and staff for managing any emergency and trauma situations.” 

Group photo of participants at the conclusion of the 4-day mass casualty management training held in Mogadishu from 16 to 20 December 2022. Credit: WHO/Somalia

Addressing the concluding session of the MCM training, Chairman of the National Health Emergency Taskforce from the Federal Ministry of Health Dr Guled Abdijalil Ali expressed gratitude to WHO for wasting no time in responding to the requests of medical supplies from the Somali health ministry in the wake of deadly twin-blasts of October 2022. He recalled that within a week of the blasts WHO flew in almost 87 metric tonnes of medical supplies from its operational hub in Dubai for the Ministry. “It helped us save many precious lives and for sure we could not have done it without the support of WHO. We are hopeful that by designing and conducting both these CFAR and MCM training in record time and by helping the Ministry to roll them out to other states, we will have a cadre of health professionals and first responders capable of saving more lives and preventing disabilities than ever before.”

For additional information, please contact:

Kyle DeFreitas
External Relations Officer
Cette adresse email est protégée contre les robots des spammeurs, vous devez activer Javascript pour la voir.

Fouzia Bano
Communications Officer
Cette adresse email est protégée contre les robots des spammeurs, vous devez activer Javascript pour la voir.

Related links

WHO, the International Humanitarian City of Dubai and Government of United Arab Emirates extend life-saving support to twin-blast victims of Mogadishu

Short video message by WHO Representative to express sympathy and solidarity with blast victims  

Tweet by the Federal Minister of Health Dr Ali Haji thanking WHO for support  

Participants during a group work exercise developing an annual plan for rolling out the national RMNCAH strategy with key deliverables, indicators and budget lines during the 5-day workshop on programme management in Mogadishu, Somalia. Credit: WHO Somalia.

Mogadishu, 1 January 2023 – The ongoing drought and the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the gaps in basic service delivery for health and the weaknesses in the health system that prevent it from serving the vulnerable population with good quality care, even in the challenging circumstances. Women and children from marginalized rural communities and camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been significantly impacted by the drought and COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in major inequities and inequalities in the health status of women and children in the country, including in their access to basic health services. Though certain health indicators have shown some progress over the past few years in Somalia, with neonatal mortality and stillbirth rates of 38.5 per 1000 live births and 35.5 per 1000 total births, respectively, and the highest under-5 mortality rate in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region, Somalia is still one of the most dangerous countries for women to give birth and children to be born in.

WHO has been supporting the federal and state ministries of health in strengthening service delivery, especially for women, children and vulnerable populations. To improve reproductive, maternal and child health outcomes, WHO, together with the Ministry of Health, other United Nations agencies and key partners, has developed a national reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescents health (RMNCAH) strategy that sets out priorities and targets for tackling the high maternal and child mortality and morbidity in the country. However, implementing the strategy has proven challenging, requiring various operational considerations.

The challenge, as identified by WHO through several rounds of consultations and field missions, was that the Ministry lacked both the human resources needed to implement the national strategy and the required skills and knowledge to understand the programme management cycle, including planning, budgeting, implementation and monitoring, to make the strategy more results-oriented, accountable and beneficial for the targeted population.

To meet this request from the Federal Ministry of Health, the WHO country office in Somalia, together regional experts, designed a training package, entitled “Managing programmes to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health,” based on regional recommendations and evidence-based interventions. The training package builds on the WHO’s established “Managing programmes to improve child health” (2009) package, developed specifically to address the targets and global strategies developed for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which has not yet been adopted in any of the countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. The training package was customized to align with WHO’s country cooperation strategy (2021–2025) and Somalia’s essential package of health services through a series of consultations with the ministry and regional experts.

Enhanced leadership skills for better implementation of evidence-based interventions

WHO piloted the 5-day training package with 17 (including 9 female) directors and public health managers responsible for implementing the RMNCAH strategy at national and subnational levels across Somalia. The training was held in Mogadishu, Somalia, from 18 to 22 December 2022, with 2 core facilitators from the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and two co-facilitators from the WHO country office for Somalia. To ensure equal participation from all states in the training, the various ministries of health (at both federal and state level) nominated 2 senior health officials from each state and 1 from Banadir Regional Authority (Mogadishu).

The training aimed to build the leadership and programme management capacities of senior health officials to help them translate their technical knowledge about RMNCAH into evidence-based, results-oriented, cost-effective interventions. It is expected that this leadership training will enhance planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation capacities at the national and subnational levels.

Following the successful pilot training, which received overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants, the training will now be rolled out across the country, incorporating lessons learned and recommendations proposed by the ministry officials and facilitators.

After attending the extensive and interactive training sessions, Dr Ubah Farah Ahmed, Director of Family Health at the Federal Ministry of Health, remarked, “The training provided me with the best cost-effective way of planning, managing and monitoring maternal and child health programmes. The training certainly helped to demystify many of the areas related to management and leadership required to make a national strategy work. I would like to thank WHO for clearly making an informed effort to customize the training to reflect the Somali context. We would certainly make it a mandatory course for all the managers at the subnational level to ensure that we plan with clear objectives and measurable goals.”

The majority of the participants echoed these sentiments, promising to cascade the learning among their peers at the subnational level. Towards the end of the training, the Federal Ministry of Health had already announced its intention to scale up the training by cascading it to the district level to improve implementation of the RMNCAH strategy at all levels.

Additionally, the timing of the training coincided with the annual planning process of both the federal and state ministries of health.

“After this timely and much-required training, we will be able to look at the rollout of the national RMNCAH strategy at the state level in a totally different, well-calculated and measured manner. WHO has been helpful to us in many other ways, but this specific intervention will surely help us realize our objectives of empowering our knowledge capacity, improving our programme management skills and achieving our goals,” said Dr Mohamoud Garun Gas, Director of Family Health for the Jubaland State of Somalia.

Dr Ubah receiving her certificate. Credit: WHO Somalia.

Accelerating RMNCAH to achieve universal health coverage and the SDGs

RMNCAH is fundamental for achieving universal health coverage and is a key driver of the SDGs. In Somalia, maternal mortality ratio is estimated at 692 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births, and 1 in 20 women is expected to die from pregnancy-related causes during their reproductive lifetime.

"We are working in one of the most challenging environments, but we are grateful to the ministries of health (at both federal and state level) and our colleagues at the WHO Regional Office, for making RMNCAH a priority in this country. We feel pride in supporting the willingness of health professionals in the country to learn these skills and cascade them at all levels. Still, we know that by no means is our job done because we have to cover lots of miles to make Somalia a comparatively safe place for mothers and newborns as per the stated SDG 3 and universal health coverage goals. For this, we certainly will need support from all quarters, including our worthy donors, our partners and, more importantly, from the communities,” commented Dr Al-Umra Umar, Programme Lead for RMNCAH at the WHO Somalia country office, while addressing the concluding session of the workshop in Mogadishu.

The Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016–2030) aims to keep RMNCAH at the centre of the SDG agenda by providing strategic and concrete guidance on accelerating progress toward ending all preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths, including stillbirths, by 2030. It aims to support countries in improving the overall health and well-being of women, children and adolescents through transformative action. WHO has been supporting Somalia in achieving its SDG targets and improving the health and well-being of all its women and children.

For additional information, please contact:

Kyle DeFreitas, External Relations Officer, Cette adresse email est protégée contre les robots des spammeurs, vous devez activer Javascript pour la voir.

Fouzia Bano, Communications Officer, Cette adresse email est protégée contre les robots des spammeurs, vous devez activer Javascript pour la voir.

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Note to editors

Please see the links below for additional information on recent support:

Creating a safe environment for mothers and newborns in Somalia

Government of Somalia, UNICEF and WHO mark World Breastfeeding Week with a call to step up breastfeeding-friendly environments for mothers and babies