Visit of the Assistant Director-General for Health Action in Crisis, to Somalia

November 22
 

Dr Eric Laroche, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Action in Crisis and Dr Marthe Everard, WHO Representative for Somalia visited Hargeisa, Somaliland on 22 November 2009.

On meeting a number of government officials, the mission visited Hargeisa Group Hospital – Mental Health Ward and spoke to patients, and health workers participating in an ongoing mental health training course. Dr Laroche and Dr Everard were able to see the current challenges of the hospital in meeting the needs of people with mental health disorders in Somaliland.

In late 2009, WHO and partners will be assessing the situation to understand the full burden and the status of health services for people with mental health disorders.

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Renewing of health care services for conflict-affected communities in Somalia

November 11-15

WHO Somalia is responding to the current conflict in South Central Somalia including Lower and Middle Juba regions. From 11-15 November 2009, in collaboration with WFP and World vision, WHO set up a field hospital in Bu'aale and conducted on-the-job training on emergency surgery, basic emergency obstetric care (EmOC) and trauma management.
 

To extend surgical services to conflict-affected communities in the region, the capacity of Bu'aale mother and child health centre (MCH) was extended with tents, equipment and essential medical supplies to act as a field hospital providing an additional 12 beds, operating theatre, and hospital pharmacy.

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Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 confirmed in Somalia

November

Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 has been confirmed in Somalia for the first time. Two out of 10 samples tested positive for novel H1N1 (pandemic strain) on 3 November 2009 in KEMRI referral laboratory in Nairobi, Kenya. Somalia is the last country in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO) to report confirmed cases of H1N1.
The neighbouring countries Kenya and Ethiopia, which both are part of WHO’s African Region (AFRO) have already confirmed cases of H1N1, including from within refugee camps close to the Somali border.

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WHO updates

                               

Improving the quality of medicines in Somalia

October

The World Health Organization Somalia has signed a memorandum of understanding with National Quality Control Laboratory (NQCL), Kenya. The agreement signed on October 30 2009 with NQCL, represented by the NQCL Director, Dr. Hezekia Chepkwony and WHO Somalia Representative, Dr Marthe Everard seals WHO’s commitment to promoting quality consciousness of medicines in Somalia.  
 

The collaboration between the two organizations will assist in strengthening the capacity of health authorities and pharmaceutical professional associations to monitor the quality of medicines of public health importance available in the market in Somalia. This will be done through training of pharmaceutical health staff in both the public and private sector including commercial importers of medicines, in the use of Minilabs for qualitative analysis of medicines.  In cooperation with WHO Somalia, NQCL-Kenya will carry out a comprehensive study on the extent of occurrence of counterfeit medicines in Somalia. Other joint activities include the testing and analysis of suspected drug samples at the laboratory and supervisory activity.
                              

WHO and partners support an initiative to strengthen malaria control at community level

September

First launched in Somalia in 1988, Community-Based Initiatives programme is a tool for bringing primary health care closer to the community through community empowerment and inter-sectoral collaboration. The CBI can be used to addressed a range of health issues in a community and can be applied depending on the health issues affected.

Considering the need to enhance community ownership in health programmes, WHO, through its Community-Based Initiative and Roll Back Malaria programmes in Somalia provided 3-day training on community involvement in preventing malaria transmission through the use of long-lasting insecticides treated nets (LLITNs) in 15 of the BDN villages in Lower Shabelle region. The training is a part of a wider initiative to improve coverage and use of LLITNs. Participants will go on to advocate within their communities, providing health education on how to prevent malaria, as well as help to implement LLITNs distribution.

27 health volunteers from 15 BDN villages attended the training to understand more on prevention and treatment of malaria, and conduct household survey to register the eligible families. ON the basis of the training. Later on second phase of the project about 11.000 LLITNs will be distributed by village representatives and health volunteers.
This intervention will target a total population of over 33000 people comprising of about 5500 households who will receive 2 nets per family.

This project is supported by the Patient Helping Fund/Kuwait and Funded by Mabarah Assayer Society.
 

                               

Somalia - Struggling to reach the sick
September 2009

Somalia's humanitarian crisis has sunk to its lowest point in two decades, with escalated hostilities since May around the capital, Mogadishu, putting the lives of millions, including women and children, at risk and jeopardizing recent health gains.
      
Almost 3.6 million people nationwide need emergency assistance, among them 1.5 million Somalis displaced by violence and hampered by a fifth-consecutive season of drought. In recent months, 500 000 of these displaced have been uprooted yet again by violence around Mogadishu, heaping further humanitarian hardship onto these war-weary people.
Low funding of humanitarian efforts is another major concern. Emergency health interventions such as mobile clinics for displaced people's settlements and the early warning and surveillance of key infectious and communicable diseases are at great risk due to this lack of funding.
 

This photo essay highlights the humanitarian health challenges facing Somalis in this chronically troubled part of the world and the efforts by health providers to try meet their needs.