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WHO in Somalia
Spreading the word about vaccines in Somalia’s remote communities
Dr. Husein Mohamed Abdi examines Masna’s finger mark after she received the necessary vaccines at the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) centre in Toon, near Hargeisa, Somalia. Photo credit: WHO, Khadar Hared30 October 2025, Mogadishu, Somalia – On the morning of 27 August 2025, the fourth day of nationwide efforts to deliver the new oral polio...
Mothers lead the way to a polio-free Somalia
Layla Omar Mohamed marks a child’s finger after administering the polio vaccine during the NID campaign in the Banadir region, Somalia. Photo credit: Abdirahim Caaylaawe30 October 2025, Mogadishu, Somalia – “When I walk through these neighbourhoods, I am thinking of my children and my community. Each time I knock on a door, I know I am...
WHO and ECHO provide essential aid for malnourished children in Somalia
12 October 2025, Mogadishu, Somalia – Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu – Somalia’s largest paediatric referral public hospital – is at the forefront of efforts to address severe acute malnutrition. Inside the stabilization centre, small hospital beds are lined up, each holding a child fighting not only hunger but illnesses like pneumonia, diarrhoea and...
Polio campaign reaches more than 1.5 million children in northern Somalia
2 September 2025, Mogadishu, Somalia – More than 1.5 million children under 5 received the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) in Somaliland and Puntland during the second round of a nationwide vaccination campaign. The campaign – part of Somalia’s ongoing efforts to end polio once and for all – launched on 24 August in Somaliland, where...
WHO Somalia enhances staff skills to develop impactful health interventions
25 August 2025, Mogadishu, Somalia – World Health Organization (WHO) Somalia recently, 20-21 August 2025, completed a lively 2-day professional development training on results-based management (RBM), with a focus on the theory of change (ToC). The sessions aimed to equip technical staff with new skills and tools to plan, monitor, and report on...
WHO supports Somaliland as it finalizes a new operational plan to strengthen public health systems
21 August 2025, Mogadishu, Somalia – The World Health Organization (WHO) is working alongside the Somaliland Ministry of Health Development (MoHD) and partners to improve public health services and strategic planning. A key component of the drive is the development of an operational plan for health priorities to guide health development in...
WHO expands trauma and mental health support to protect Somalia’s health workers
19 August 2025, Mogadishu, Somalia – In Somalia’s under-resourced hospitals, trauma patients often arrive to find blood supply and essential medical equipment shortages, trauma teams with limited capacity and inadequate systems in place for handling a surge in trauma patients. During mass casualty incidents these limitations cause delays that put...
As Somalia marks World Breastfeeding Week, the government and communities are being urged to strengthen breastfeeding support
3 August 2025, Mogadishu, Somalia –Somalia joins the rest of the world in marking World Breastfeeding Week, held annually from 1–7 August. This year’s theme, Prioritize Breastfeeding: Create Sustainable Support Systems, recognizes the barriers that breastfeeding mothers face – inadequate support, misinformation and systemic challenges that...
Newly released data shows Somalia making notable progress in child immunization
15 July 2025, Mogadishu, Somalia – The annual World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)Estimates of National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC)released today reports that 70% of children in Somalia are fully vaccinated, an increase of 28% between 2012 to 2024, with steady improvements registered across all antigens...
A shot at a healthier future: Somali mothers embrace lifesaving vaccines for their children
30 June 2025, Mogadishu, Somalia – Mothers visited the Hamar Jajab Maternal and Child Health Centre in Banadir region on a hot morning in May, babies cradled in one arm, toddlers clinging to the other, to join the queues of caregivers waiting under the shade of a big tree inside the facility, all hoping to get their children vaccinated. The...
