11 May 2022

Mogadishu, 11 May 2022 – During his 3-day visit to Somalia, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari visited North Galkacyo in Puntland state of Somalia to oversee WHO’s ongoing drought response activities, see the work of community health workers in delivering integrated health and nutrition services to the people displaced by the recent drought in Somalia and visit one of the internally displaced population’s camps to see the challenges faced by the communities in meeting their health, nutrition, food and water and...

09 May 2022

Mogadishu, 9 May 2022 – On 9 May 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari arrived in Somalia for a 3-day visit. He was accompanied by the Director of Business and Operations Services of the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Sussan Bassiri.  The Federal Minister of Health and Human Services HE Dr Fawziya Abikar Nur other high-level government officials and the WHO Representative to Somalia Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik extended a warm welcome to Dr Al-Mandhari, who is visiting Somalia for...

09 May 2022

Mogadishu, 9 May 2022 – In their continued and collective efforts to improve health system resilience, the Ministry of Health and Human Services of the Federal Government of Somalia, World Health Organization (WHO) and the Embassy of Italy have joined forces and officially launched a €3 million multi-year project entitled ‘Improving essential health services in Somalia using a secondary hospital-based care approach.’  The project is designed to improve delivery of essential health services at the secondary level care in Somalia by focusing on building strong and resilient hospital-based care at Hudur...

20 April 2022

24 April 2022 – On 25 April 2022, World Malaria Day will be commemorated under the theme “Harness innovation to reduce the malaria disease burden and save lives.” Recognizing that the world needs a suite of approaches and tools to reduce the prevalence of malaria, WHO is calling for investments and innovation that bring new vector control approaches, diagnostics, antimalarial medicines and other tools to speed the pace of progress against malaria. Prevalence in Somalia In Somalia, malaria is endemic across the country, particularly in the south and central parts of the country....

20 April 2022

23 April 2022, Mogadishu – While marking World Immunization Week this year, Somalia’s Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) jointly urged humanitarian partners, local private agencies and donors to help boost immunization efforts and outreach across Somalia. This message is in line with the theme for World Immunization Week, 2022, running from 24 to 30 April, which is ‘Long life for all – in pursuit of a long life well lived.’ World Immunization Week 2022 aims to spur...

27 March 2022

27 March 2022 - World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, commemorated on 24 March every year, aims to increase awareness about the grave health, social and economic consequences of TB, and scale up efforts to prevent further spread of the disease. The theme for this year is to ‘Invest to End TB. Save Lives’. TB is a major cause of death and disease burden in Somalia. The 2021 Global TB Report indicated there was a marginal increase in the estimated TB incidence in Somalia, from 258 per 100 000 people in 2018 to...

22 March 2022

NAIROBI, 22 March 2022 – Yesterday, the Federal Government of Somalia, World Health Organization (WHO) and members of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) recommitted to stopping the ongoing outbreak of circulating poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) in Somalia at a three-day meeting convened in Nairobi, Kenya. High-level delegates at the meeting included HE Fawziya Abikar Nur, Federal Minister of Health and Human Services, Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik, WHO Representative to Somalia and Head of Mission, alongside senior representation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Centers for Disease Control...

20 March 2022

MOGADISHU, 18 March 2022 – On 17 March 2022, Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative and Head of Mission to Somalia, handed over a duplex pressure swing adsorption (PSA) oxygen plant to H.E. Fawziya Abikar Nur, the Minister of Health of Somalia, alongside H.E. Tiina Intelmann, European Union (EU) Ambassador to Somalia and Mr Adam Abdelmoula, Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator (DSRSG/UNRC/HC) for Somalia. This milestone event took place at the De Martino Hospital in Mogadishu where...

10 March 2022

10 March 2022 – Somalia has witnessed intermittent drought over the last 3 decades. Each drought, and natural catastrophe, has brought with it a string of health consequences, magnified even further in a country with fragile and vulnerable health system.    CERF support delivering anticipatory action    To respond to an impending drought situation in Somalia during May to November in 2021, WHO provided timely support to the Ministry of Health and Human Services, with funding support from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). Part of the support focused on the prevention and...

19 February 2022

19 February 2022 – The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated the importance of health research in finding solutions to health challenges. To address the most urgent health priorities using evidence-based solutions, the Ministry of Health and Human Services of the Federal Government of Somalia and National Institute of Health (NIH), with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners, convened the first ever health research conference in Garowe, Puntland, from 30 January to 1 February 2022. Some of the brightest Somali minds came together at the event ─ 200 national and international...

30 January 2022

30 January 2022 – In May 2021, the World Health Assembly resolved to dedicate 30 January each year as World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day to shed light on the public health challenge that neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) pose in countries such as Somalia. This came about as a result of lobbying from the United Arab Emirates to galvanize support for communities suffering without enough support, particularly as other disease control initiatives gain more attention. This year, the theme for World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day is ‘Achieving health equity to end the...

23 December 2021

At a signing ceremony held in Mogadishu on 11 December 2021, on the eve of Universal Health Coverage Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) country office for Somalia launched its five-year Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS), 2021–2025, for Somalia, which will guide its health programme over the next five years in line with national development priorities. Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik, WHO Representative to Somalia and Head of Mission, presided over the event and signed the strategy which was co-signed by HE Dr Fawziya Abikar Nur, Minister of Health and Human Services...

14 December 2021

14 December 2021 – On 9 December 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) country office for Somalia officially launched a report entitled ‘Capitalizing on the COVID-19 response: towards establishing emergency, critical and operative care services in a fragile setting.’ Led by the WHO Representative to Somalia, Dr Mamunur Malik, this official launch was attended by other dignitaries, including: the Federal Minister of Health and Human Services of Somalia HE Dr Fawziya Abikar Nur; the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Mr Adam...

11 December 2021

12 December 2021 – In 2012, in acknowledgement of the role health plays in social, economic and political aspects of life, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution urging countries to progress towards the concept of universal health coverage (UHC). UHC means that all individuals and communities receive the health services they need without suffering financial hardship.  To raise awareness about this concept, every year since 2012, UHC Day has been commemorated on 12 December. This year, the theme for the day is ‘Leaving no one’s health behind: Investing in health...

07 December 2021

7 December 2021 - As emphasized by the World Health Organization (WHO), testing is one of the key strategies to better understand and monitor the spread and trends of the transmission of SARS-COV-2 virus, which helps in  timely detection of cases in order to mount an effective response. When the first case of COVID-19 was detected on 16 March 2020 in Somalia, the country had no testing capacities for SARS-COV-2. Instead, samples collected from suspected cases of COVID-19 in remote and hard-to-reach locations had to be shipped to the Kenya Medical...

02 December 2021

Commemorating the International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2021 in Somalia 3 December 2021 – The International Day of Persons with Disabilities, commemorated on 3 December 2021, shines a spotlight on challenges that people living with disabilities face. The international day, first proclaimed in 1992 by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/3, aims to mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. This year’s theme for the day – ‘Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world’ – increases awareness of...

30 November 2021

1 December 2021 - World AIDS Day is commemorated on 1 December every year to shed light on the plight of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and the challenges they face. This year’s global World AIDS Day is being held under the theme “End inequalities. End AIDS”. In the Eastern Mediterranean Region of the World Health Organization (WHO), the campaign has “Getting back on track – Focus on testing” as a regional theme in response to the disruption of HIV testing services during...

22 November 2021

22 November 2021 – Injuries are one of the major public health concerns in Somalia, owing to road traffic accidents and ongoing conflicts. From blast injuries alone, approximately 80 lives are lost every month, and for every death related to an injury, there are 20–50 non-fatal injuries that result in some form of disability, impacting quality of life, productivity and financial security. There are 2 primary providers for first aid in Mogadishu ─ Aamin Ambulance and the Somali Red Crescent Society ─ but between them they have only 21 functioning ambulances to...

17 November 2021

17 November 2021 – World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, commemorated from 18 to 24 November every year, aims to draw attention to the crucial issue of the proper use of antimicrobials, such as antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics.  This year, the theme for the campaign is to ‘Spread Awareness, Stop Resistance’. The theme calls on 'One Health' stakeholders, policy-makers, health care providers, and the general public to be antimicrobial resistance (AMR) awareness champions.  Improper use of antimicrobials a root cause of resistance  The lack of a functioning national medicine regulatory authority, coupled with unregulated private...

11 November 2021

11 November 2021 – In the last 3 decades, Somalia has faced protracted conflict and emergencies — as a result of which the high burden of injuries has been ubiquitous and often poorly addressed from the public health lens.  The public health burden of injuries and trauma  In December 2020 and January 2021, the Federal Ministry of Health, with technical support from World Health Organization (WHO), conducted a rapid assessment of critical care services in 136 hospitals across 18 regions and focus group discussions with frontline health care workers in Somalia. This was...

08 November 2021

8 November 2021 – As the head of the Shabellow Bay Camp for internally displaced persons in southwest Somalia Ibrahim Mohamed Ali spends a lot of his time trying to convince his community members to get vaccinated against COVID-19.   Ibrahim explains that even though his cousin in Baidoa had advised him to get vaccinated earlier on, he was not totally convinced at first, as no one seemed to know enough about the virus and vaccines — it all seemed so new to everyone. “After seeing a number of my friends in the...

26 October 2021

Mogadishu, 26 October 2021 – Somalia is scaling up its battle to combat the COVID-19 pandemic after receiving 163 000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines from the Government of Germany through the COVAX Facility today. “The Government of Germany has extended its valuable support to Somalia in the fight against COVID-19 and we would like to thank them for this,” said Dr Fawziya Abikar Nur, the Minister of Health and Human Services of Somalia. “So far, 1.85% of our population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. With the support from Germany, we can ramp...

25 October 2021

25 October 2021 – Having a public health workforce that is able to rapidly detect and respond to disease outbreaks is key for any health system, as recently shown on a worldwide scale with the current COVID-19 pandemic. The importance of this empowered and well-equipped resource is further emphasized by the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), a legal instrument that encourages countries to prevent, detect and respond appropriately to disease outbreaks.    Taking measures to empower health workforce  To address Somalia’s limited capacity in disease surveillance and response, largely a result of decades...

24 October 2021

Mogadishu, 24 October 2021 – On World Polio Day 2021, the Federal Government of Somalia, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other key partners from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) renewed their efforts to deliver on the promise to protect every Somali child from polio.  Over the years, Somalia has made substantial progress in polio eradication. The country stopped the transmission of wild poliovirus in 2013 and prevented its subsequent importations. However, outbreaks of other strains of poliovirus still pose a threat to unvaccinated children.  In March...

18 October 2021

Why Somalia needed to implement the integrated disease surveillance and response strategy As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, the world is becoming a smaller place and travel across borders is becoming more accessible to growing populations, and the spread of diseases has become faster and more efficient. The pandemic has also shown that an outbreak in one country can quickly become a pandemic everywhere if the country’s capacity for early detection and effective response is weak. This has made it imperative for countries to prevent the spread of diseases both in-country...

10 October 2021

Mogadishu, 10 October 2021 – For this year’s World Mental Health Day, the WHO global theme is ‘Mental health care for all: Let’s make it a reality’. Over the past year, there is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the mental health of millions across the world, especially health and other frontline workers, people living alone, and persons with pre-existing mental health conditions. Moreover, at a time when mental, neurological and psychosocial support services were perhaps most needed, there were significant disruptions to essential health...

29 September 2021

29 September 2021 – Three decades after a civil war and several natural and manmade disasters, the resilience of Somali communities and health workers have been put to test many times. Each time the sound of an explosion reverberates across a city or town, under-resourced health facilities scattered sparsely across the country can expect to receive an influx of mass casualties. At their end, health workers managing these health facilities are usually under-prepared, with limited access to modern tools, equipment and skills, that limit their response and reaction to mass casualties and resulting...

29 September 2021

MOGADISHU, 29 September 2021 – The World Health Organization (WHO) Academy held a groundbreaking ceremony, in the presence of the President of France, HE Mr Emmanuel Macron, the WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Executive Director of the WHO Academy Dr Agnès Buzyn to inaugurate the construction of its futuristic campus in Lyon, France, on 27 September. At the event, President Macron addressed Dr Siyad Mohamed Abdi, a Somali surgeon and trainee of the WHO Academy certified training course on mass casualty management held in Mogadishu, to hear about...

17 September 2021

Mogadishu, 17 September 2021 – While commemorating World Patient Safety Day yesterday, the Federal Government of Somalia, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), urged health facilities, health care workers and other stakeholders to step up efforts to ensure mothers and newborns remain safe. This message echoes this year’s theme for World Patient Safety Day — ‘Safe maternal and newborn care’ — and comes at a time when the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has disrupted continuity of already overstretched essential...

16 September 2021

16 September 2021 – As the Head of Nurses and Midwives and Capacity Building at the Banadir Hospital, Sahra Mire Mohamed assists midwives to offer mothers and newborns safe and quality care. She ensures that midwives she trains perform safe deliveries, supervises regular mother and child health services offered to mothers and newborns, and helps them when needed, especially if a mother or child is facing any kind of health risk or medical emergency. On average, Sahra and her teams work with 600 pregnant women a week, many of whom come from...

15 September 2021

In April 2019, the WHO RegionalOffice for the Eastern Mediterranean conducted a technical mission to Somalia and assessed the suitability of 3 sentinel sites for conducting surveillance for severe acute respiratory infection (SARI). The mission also visited a number of primary health care centres to assess the feasibility of conducting surveillance for influenza-like illness (ILI). Some of the major gaps identified included the limited capacity of health workers to conduct influenza surveillance and the lack of capacity of the laboratories to conduct molecular tests for influenza viruses. During the COVID-19 pandemic,...

15 September 2021

15 September 2021 – Since the day the news of availability of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines emerged, the Federal Government of Somalia has worked hand in hand with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other key partners to secure vaccines for Somalis.   One year after the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Somalia on 15 March 2021, the first consignment of 300 000 AstraZeneca vaccines for COVID-19, received through the COVAX Facility, arrived in Mogadishu. In the following months, frontline workers, including health care workers; the elderly people; and people...

01 September 2021

Mogadishu, 31 August 2021 – The Ministry of Health of the Federal Republic of Germany has made in-kind donations of surgical and medical masks to the World Health Organization (WHO) over the past months. As part of this donation, the WHO country office in Somalia, received today 1 386 000 surgical and medical face masks for its work in Somalia as part of its coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response. H.E. Annett Günther, the German Ambassador to Somalia, handed over the masks to Dr Mamunur Rahman Malik, the WHO Representative to Somalia,...

18 August 2021

19 August 2021 – World Humanitarian Day recognizes aid workers who put their lives on the line to help others, particularly during times of crisis. At the World Health Organization (WHO) country office in Somalia, humanitarian workers conduct their duties without hesitating, standing tall in the face of all kinds of challenges to support the Federal and State Government to ensure every last person can access health care. This year, World Humanitarian Day is highlighting the immediate human cost of the climate crisis and raising awareness for leaders to take meaningful climate...

17 August 2021

Somalia receives 302 400 Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccines to protect more Somalis from COVID-19      17 August 2021 – While Somalia witnesses yet another spike in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, on 12 August 2021, the Federal Government of Somalia received a consignment of 302 400 doses of Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccines, donated by the United States of America through the COVAX Facility. The COVAX Facility is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the World Health Organization (WHO), alongside the United Nations...

09 August 2021

Mogadishu, 9 August 2021 – Yesterday, 108 000 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Somalia. The vaccines were donated by the Government of France through the COVAX Facility, a partnership between the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi - the Vaccine Alliance, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), in continued efforts to protect Somalia’s population from COVID-19. “The Government of France is committed, along with the EU and COVAX partners, to help Somalia bolster vaccination efforts so that additional frontline workers and...

03 August 2021

  “We are calling on all actors from household level through community leadership up to policy-makers and development partners to actively take breastfeeding as everyone’s responsibility,” said Dr Abdinasir Mukhtar Ibrahim, the Director General, Somalia’s Federal Minister of Health and Human Services. “Together, through commitment, concerted action and collaboration, we can build strong collaborative systems for provision of appropriate and skilled breastfeeding counselling to mothers and ensure that our children are fed in the appropriate way for a healthy nation.”  This call to action comes as Somalia witnesses an increase in child...

28 June 2021

Mogadishu, 28 June 2021 – On 16 June, Dr Mamunur Malik, WHO Representative to Somalia, and H.E. Staffan Tillander, Swedish Ambassador to Somalia, signed an agreement, totalling 4 300 000 SEK (US$ 517 868), aimed at strengthening the National Institute of Health and health information systems in Somalia, through the financing of 2 senior WHO national staff positions.  The signature of this agreement marks years of close collaboration and partnership between WHO and Sweden in Somalia. It is built upon 2 non-financial memoranda of understanding signed between WHO and the Public...

28 June 2021

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office supports COVID-19 response in Somalia 28 June 2021 – Hawa Ibrahim Ali recalls being taken aback when she first heard about the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in 2020. As a district medical officer for the Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services, and a hospital manager whose job it is to oversee 13 health facilities in 3 of Benadir’s districts, Hawa was worried about how Somalia, her country, would cope with a disease that was defeating the world’s best developed health systems one by one. However, she was pleased...

11 May 2021

WHO spoke to 2 experts to hear about their experiences. Omar Mohamed Abdi, a trained nurse by profession, also serves as the Head Anaesthetist at the Bosasso General Hospital. As part of his work, he prepares patients for surgery and teaches students anaesthesiology. As a child, Omar wanted to join the health sector. He feels this was probably as, back then, many children didn’t know much about other careers. He just wanted to work hard like his father, a labourer who paints homes, and his mother, who worked at a livestock market....

04 May 2021

MOGADISHU, 4 May 2021 – Vaccines protect us against preventable diseases, including COVID-19. They bring us closer to a healthier world and are permissible to be taken during the holy month of Ramadan – these are the main messages the Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services, World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Somalia are sharing this World Immunization Week, running from 24 to 30 April 2021. On this occasion, the Federal Ministry of Health, WHO and UNICEF are renewing their commitments to ensure that...

26 April 2021

To meet urgent, unmet needs, WHO Somalia donated 200 lifesaving, re-fillable oxygen cylinders to the De Martino Hospital 26 April 2021 - In the last year, while traders worldwide watched as commodities’ prices rose and crashed, one precious commodity that soared in demand and value is medical oxygen. As the Federal Ministry of Health and Human Service (FMoH)’s National Incident Manager for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response in Somalia, and Director of one of the busiest hospitals in Somalia – the De Martino Hospital – Dr Abdirizak Yusuf Ahmed knows the importance...

25 April 2021

25 April 2021 – Ahead of World Malaria Day, marked annually on 25 April, WHO congratulates the Somali health authorities for taking bold and pragmatic steps to eliminate malaria from 6 pilot districts aiming to halt indigenous transmission of the disease.  While the world was grappling with the rapid and fast spreading pandemic of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) country office in Somalia has continued to scale up its fight against malaria despite disruption of essential health services in the country.   Somolia has a high-burden of malaria, and between 2000 and 2019,...

21 April 2021

21 April 2021 – Years of conflict, violence and recurrent climatic shocks have led to long-term displacement and economic adversity in Somalia. Currently, about 2.6 million people are internally displaced, 40% of whom live in extreme hardship. This situation has led to widespread trauma, social deprivation and substance abuse, with devastating consequences on people’s mental health. A 2010 WHO situation analysis estimated that one third of Somalia’s population suffers from some form of mental health problem, in a country where two thirds of the population is under 30 years of age...

01 April 2021

1 April 2021 – On 5 February 2021, minutes after she gave birth to her eighth child at the Hanaano General Hospital in Dusamareb, 37-year-old Zahra’s* heart sank. Her doctor explained her baby had birth asphyxia, which meant she was having difficulties in breathing. She had an oxygen rate of less than 40%, compared to the required levels of 90% and above. “I cried and was worried when I saw my child very ill,” said Zahra. “I believed she would die.” Immediately, the baby was admitted to the maternity ward, where doctors rushed...

22 March 2021

Stories from the field On 15 March 2020, Somalia received 300 000 doses of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX Facility to protect frontline workers and elderly people with chronic health conditions from COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) hears back from some of the first people vaccinated in the capital city. Spread the message – get vaccinated and keep safe As a medical doctor working along the front lines of public health service, Dr Aweis Olow Hassan received his vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Banadir Hospital on 16 March 2021....

16 March 2021

WHO’s work reflects show of strength, resilience and working together to save lives, prevent fragile health system from breaking down and support recovery  Mogadishu, 16 March 2020 – One year after the first case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was officially confirmed in Somalia, the Federal and State Governments of Somalia, in collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO), and other United Nations partners, are reflecting on the lives lost to the disease, while taking stock of crucial lessons learned, and huge strides made as the health system prepares to recover from the...

15 March 2021

15 March 2021 – On the morning of 15 March 2021, a warm sun shone brightly on an airplane landing at the Mogadishu’s Adden Adde International Airport. After one year since the first COVID-19 case was officially confirmed in Somalia, on 16 March 2020, the country received part of the 300 000 doses of Oxford-Astra Zeneca vaccines from the COVAX Facility, which will be rolled out in the capital city. This consignment is a first of many, and will be used to protect frontline workers across all states of Somalia, including...

08 March 2021

8 March 2021 – Compassion. Service. Empathy. These are a few qualities that resonate with doctors and health workers around the world, and in Somalia. In Mogadishu, armed with these qualities, Dr Naima Abdulkarim, Public Health Emergency Officer for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Somalia, is braving several challenges to follow her dream to serve her community.  “My mother worked as a nurse, and every time I saw her help children and women in our village, I used to say, ‘Mom, I want to be like you,’” said Dr Naima, who...

07 March 2021

Mogadishu, 8 March 2021 – On 25 February 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) country office for Somalia and the SPIDER Center (based within University of Stockholm) signed a non-financial memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formalize a partnership that aims to develop an integrated and digital health information management system (HIMS) in Somalia.  Somalia’s health system has been weakened by decades of conflict and recurring natural disasters. In particular, Somalia lacks a comprehensive HIMS capable of electronically collecting and sharing information from community to national level. While WHO continues to explore...

10 February 2021

10 February 2020 – In 2019, a joint mission consisting of inter-cluster and inter-ministerial officials visited Hudur Hospital, located in the Bakool region of South West State – a drought-prone area, with a total population of 350 000 hosting 23 000 displaced persons. The mission identified access to emergency and trauma health care services as critical gaps, in particular for Hudur’s displaced population, which was found to be in need of immediate life-saving and integrated health and nutrition services. The mission also found that the hospital lacked: key medical equipment,...

04 February 2021

Mogadishu, 4 February 2021 – Yesterday, the European Union (EU) launched a €5 million multi-year project to support the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Federal Government of Somalia to prevent further community spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and to strengthen the health services delivery across the country as Somalia’s health systems start recovering from the aftershock of the pandemic. “We are grateful for our collaboration with WHO which has made all involved actors work as a team in this pandemic. In the path towards a prosperous and stable Somalia,...

03 February 2021

1 February 2021 - Nearly 30 years of conflict and instability have heavily marked Somalia’s recent history. Some gains are being made, but the country still faces many challenges ahead. Somalia’s health indicators, especially for women and children rank among the lowest in the world. Recently published statistics show that maternal mortality and deaths of children under five remain high, while female genital mutilation is still widespread. Prevalence of early marriage also contributes to high fertility rates. These issues are further exacerbated by cramped conditions in the country’s over 2 000 sites for...

21 January 2021

Mogadishu, 21 January 2021 – On 23 December 2020, the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Somalia and World Health Organization (WHO) Somalia country office signed a €5 million multi-year contribution agreement for a project to prevent further spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and to strengthen the health systems in the country. The project, titled ‘Emergency operational response to COVID-19 in Somalia to support the prevention of large-scale community spread through public health systems strengthening’ aims to contain and suppress the COVID-19 epidemic, and other disease outbreaks, in...

12 January 2021

Health for all is Somalia’s answer to COVID-19 and future threats to health 12 January 2021 -  Somalia’s experience in addressing COVID-19 illustrates how investing in universal health coverage sets a strong foundation for heath emergency preparedness and response. The Government is working to ensure that people can access quality health care without experiencing financial hardship. Learn how Somalia is working to protect its population from COVID-19 and future health threats.   Read the full story

07 January 2021

7 January 2021 – After Cyclone Gati struck Puntland State of Somalia on 22 November 2020, heavy rains and floods washed away homes, livestock, crops, and fishing boats. In its wake, the cyclone destroyed health facilities and safe sanitation systems in the area, leaving thousands of vulnerable people exposed without any shelter and livelihoods, as it hit districts in the midst of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, further affecting communities’ economic recovery. Twenty-nine-year-old Aamino Ahmed and her family were among the people who were forced to flee to internally displaced people...

05 January 2021

Mogadishu, 5 January 2021 – On 17 December 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) country office in Somalia and the Public Health Agency of Sweden signed a non-financial memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formalize a partnership that aims to support the establishment of a National Institute of Health for Somalia. Years of conflict and recurring natural disasters have weakened the health system in Somalia and limited its capacity. In addition, Somalia lacks a centralized mechanism to gather evidence-based public health information to guide public health decision-making. It is to this end that...

20 December 2020

20 December 2020 – On 12 December 2020, in line with global celebrations of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) in Somalia joined the Federal Government of Somalia, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), to raise awareness about the importance of achieving UHC in fragile and vulnerable states, with the aim of ensuring health for all across the country for everyone, everywhere. At an event hosted in Mogadishu by the Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services of Somalia, with support...

11 December 2020

Mogadishu, 12 December 2020 – On International Universal Health Coverage Day, the Government of Somalia, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, renewed its commitment to supporting countries accelerate efforts to provide universal health coverage (UHC) for all. They also urged other health and development partners to do the same. “Close to 2.6 million of the most vulnerable Somalis are in need of health care,” said Dr Mamunur Malik, WHO Representative for Somalia. “By renewing our commitment to...

19 November 2020

19 November 2020 – In Kaamjiron village in Kismayo, Jubaland State, a young farmer and mother of 8, Khadijo Mohamed solemnly reflects about her children’s health. Khadijo has already lost 2 children to measles, and now a third, their one-year-old son Abdi has the same symptoms her other 2 children did – a cough, fever and rash. “I rushed my child to the hospital because I know the signs and symptoms of this disease. I saw this happen in 2013 to 2 of my children and now, I want to protect...

30 October 2020

Every year, the rains gift Somali communities with much-needed water for their animals and agricultural activities. However, in many riverine areas in the south and central States, intense rains result in the Juba and Shabelle rivers overflowing. This causes floods, which destroy homes and roads among other assets and infrastructure, and exacerbate the spread of water-borne and vector-borne diseases, such as cholera and malaria. During the first half of this year, flooding from the Gu rains affected around 919 000 people, 412 000 of whom were forced to flee their homes,...

24 October 2020

The country is set to launch round two of a polio campaign in the south and central regions MOGADISHU, 24 October 2020 – On World Polio Day, today, Somalia is celebrating polio workers’ continued commitment to reach and immunize every child in the country to end all forms of polio, and the role they play in strengthening the health system and responding to health emergencies. Since the inception of Somalia’s polio eradication programme in 1997, hundreds of polio health workers have worked to stop outbreaks of various types of poliovirus, while also...

11 October 2020

MOGADISHU, 11 October 2020- On World Mental Health Day this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) in Somalia urged policy-makers, international and national agencies, and other civil society groups to scale up mental health services in Somalia. This request comes at a time when Somalis are faced with the consequences of the triple threat of COVID-19, flooding and desert locusts, in addition to other regular health and socioeconomic challenges. According to estimates, one in every three Somalis is affected by a challenge related to their mental health. Unfortunately, however, there are...

23 September 2020

Mogadishu, 23 September 2020 – As part of continuous efforts to provide life-saving supplies to the most vulnerable Somalis, at the request of WHO, the European Union (EU) delegation to Somalia commissioned 2 special flights on 17 and 21 September to airlift emergency medical kits and supplies to Hirshabelle State. These supplies will be used to treat populations affected by flash floods in the state. As soon as the Ministry of Health in Hirshabelle State noted an increase in the numbers of people contracting waterborne diseases, they alerted WHO to offer...

21 September 2020

Mogadishu, 21 September 2020— The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are urging parents and caregivers in south and central parts of Somalia to ensure all children aged under five are vaccinated against polio during a special house-to-house immunization campaign, which began yesterday and runs until 23 September. Both agencies are advising health workers and caregivers to observe health and safety measures against COVID-19 during the four-day campaign. This advice comes in the wake of efforts to curb the spread of the ongoing polio outbreak in the...

17 September 2020

1 / 11 17 September 2020 – From 30 August to 3 September, Somalia conducted an integrated measles and polio campaign in the Banadir region – the first immunization campaign held since the COVID-19 pandemic had reached Somalia. Over the last 6 months, health workers have been fully engaged in fighting the pandemic. This campaign, conducted observing all necessary safety measures amid COVID-19, was a chance to get back on track in protecting children who have missed out on vital immunizations. 2 / 11 The campaign was conducted by Somalia’s Federal Ministry of...

15 September 2020

16 September 2020 – Somalia is no stranger to emergencies. For decades, Somalis have passed down to younger generations their rich, vibrant culture, along with mechanisms to cope with all kinds of challenges they have faced over the years. Their resilience and Somalia’s health system have been tested yet again in the last 6 months ─ this time with the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country.     Even before 16 March 2020, when H.E. Fauziya Abikar Nur, the Federal Government’s Minister of Health, announced the first case of COVID-19...

30 August 2020

30 August 2020 – For 3 days during a blazing Mogadishu summer, across 17 of Banadir’s districts, around 2500 women and 790 men pulled on their masks and sat cautiously at a safe distance from each other to undergo refresher training. They were preparing for no ordinary feat – conducting a health campaign that will see them offering around 400 000 children aged under 5 measles and polio vaccines, and vitamin A and deworming tablets at fixed and outreach sites, all amid a COVID-19 pandemic. Even though the trainees have years...

18 August 2020

Facing a virus while setting up data systems to fight the virus  18 August 2020 – “You’re not a laboratory expert! Why do you have to go to the laboratory during these pandemic times?” Samira asked her husband, Mohamed Yare, with a hint of agitation in her voice. Thirty-one-year-old Mohamed Yare, who serves as WHO’s National Polio Surveillance Data Manager, half-chuckled and tried to explain to his wife that he was only providing support to the Ministry of Health in Somalia in the development of a COVID-19 data collection system. This system...

09 August 2020

9 August 2020 – The health system of any country needs a surveillance system that can collect information on and detect alerts of epidemic-prone diseases. When a number of cases threatens to turn into an outbreak or epidemic, the surveillance system sounds an alarm that triggers a chain of immediate public health interventions. Somalia's Early Warning and Alert Network (EWARN) is again proving its value as a real-time early warning disease alert system, as in June 2020, WHO was alerted to a possible measles outbreak in a camp for internally displaced...

29 July 2020

29 July 2020 – In the recent past, 25-year-old Zahra Mohamud* had visited the Hawadle maternal and child health centre in Hargeisa regularly to have her older son Ibrahim* vaccinated against the most common childhood diseases. However, since the COVID-19 outbreak in Somalia, Zahra has been afraid to take her 7-month-old second son Jama* for routine vaccination at the centre fearing that she or her children might be infected with COVID-19. Her fear was perhaps justified as in health facilities in low-income countries, physical distancing and handwashing is not always...

22 July 2020

While the COVID-19 response dominates community health concerns, every missed opportunity for vaccination puts the fragile gains made against polio in Somalia at risk of being undone 22 July 2020 – For Somalis, COVID-19 is the most immediate crisis in a seemingly unending cycle of floods, food insecurity, conflict and outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, cholera and polio. Against this backdrop, WHO’s polio programme is working to steer the COVID-19 response and, more broadly, maintain vaccine immunity levels and improve access to health care. It’s no easy feat. Dr Mohamed Ali...

13 July 2020

13 July 2020 – “I had heard of diseases like Ebola before but thankfully they had never reached Somalia. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck countries around the world this year, my heart sank. When I saw how quickly COVID-19 was spreading, I thought Somalis would be in trouble. Other countries were beginning to go into lockdown everywhere and we had no capacity or skills to test patients for the virus,” says Dr Sahra Isse Mohamed, Director of the National Public Health Reference Laboratory. “But we were pleasantly surprised — within...

02 July 2020

2 July 2020, Mogadishu – On a visit to the major tertiary hospital in Mogadishu, which plays a critical role in the management of COVID-19 patients' care, on 21 June, the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Representative to Somalia Mr James Swan called for continuing international support to the Government’s response to COVID-19 and praised the efforts of frontline health care workers. “Since the start of the pandemic, the United Nations family has supported the Somali Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in a range of integrated ways. The De Martino Hospital has been central to testing, case detection...

18 June 2020

Mogadishu, 18 June 2020 – The Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Somalia conducted another special flight at the request of WHO in Somalia to airlift lifesaving medicine and other emergency hospital supplies to Beletweyne, as well as medical and laboratory supplies to Hargeisa and Garowe. These flights took place between 11 and 12 June 2020.  In Beletweyne, an area recently affected by flooding caused by heavy rainfall, the flight delivered 3535 kgs of supplies, including oral rehydration solution, cholera saline and other emergency medicines for patient care, capable of...

18 June 2020

17 June 2020 – The current pandemic caused by COVID-19 has strained the fragile health system in Somalia as the number of cases increases. Despite some early signs that the virus spread may be slowing down in its capital city Mogadishu and in major urban centres, cases continue to grow at subnational level as transmission spreads. The lockdown and the social distancing measures have also raised fear among health care workers providing other routine essential health care, such as immunization for children, care of pregnant and lactating women, as well as...

10 June 2020

10 June 2020 – Somalia continues its fight against COVID-19 which has so far infected over 2300 people and killed 83. The fragile and weakened health system is being overwhelmed by demands for patient care in light of the pandemic, and Somalia has recorded the highest death toll among East African countries. The surveillance system’s ability to rapidly detect, trace, track and test cases is being challenged. In the absence of a functional disease surveillance system in the country, the Early Warning, Alert and Response Network (EWARN), established in 2008 and...

01 June 2020

Mogadishu, 1 June 2020 ‒ The Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Somalia conducted another special flight for WHO in Somalia to airlift lifesaving medicine and other emergency hospital supplies to Jowhar, Kismayo and Baidoa ‒ areas recently affected by flooding caused by heavy rainfall. These WHO emergency medicines and medical supplies will be used for augmenting emergency health care for people affected by the recent floods. Previous EU-operated flights to the flood-affected areas took place on 20‒21 May 2020.   The flights delivered 9144 kgs of supplies of oral rehydration...

20 May 2020

20 May 2020 – Somalia continues its fight against one of the most catastrophic outbreaks the country has ever witnessed. In spite of recurrent humanitarian emergencies, war and conflict, Somalia has successfully eradicated wild poliovirus and ended transmission of measles and cholera outbreaks in the recent past. However, the current outbreak of COVID-19 has exposed some of the gaping holes and weaknesses in its health system to fight and respond to an outbreak of this magnitude and scale where human-to-human transmission can go unabated and the potential for cases to...

14 May 2020

14 May 2020 – While Somalia deals with one of the world's biggest public health threats from COVID-19, which has so far claimed 52 lives in the country and infected 1219 people in less than 2 months, the country is also facing floods in the north that have killed 24 people and affected over 700 000 people in 24 districts. The flood has also displaced almost 283 000 people. Although all the 6 states have been affected by this flash flood, 3 states – Hirshabelle, Jubaland, Southwest and Puntland states...

11 May 2020

11 May 2020 – As the laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 surge in Somalia, the country has also intensified its operations response to contain the epidemic. The WHO country office in support of this intensified response operations has deployed over 4000 community health care workers, each having to visit at least 5000 households every month for active case identification and contact tracing throughout the country. These community health care workers are being supervised by an additional 44 rapid response teams, formed at the district level. Once the community health care workers identify...

07 May 2020

Mogadishu, 7 May, 2020 – The WHO country office and the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Somalia have joined hands under a new collaboration in the country to strengthen operational response activities for COVID-19. The new collaboration aims to accelerate support for the frontline work of WHO in combating COVID-19 in a seemingly vast country where transportation of vital medical supplies and personnel needed for rapid response to the outbreak remain a perpetual challenge owing to suspension of commercial and cargo flights and the lockdown, which has cut off...

04 May 2020

4 May 2020 – “The road to the mountain village was rough. It’s only 50 kilometres, but it took more than 3 hours,” says Dr Fatima Ismail, a disease surveillance officer working in Somaliland. “We were bouncing in the car.” In early 2020, Dr Fatima’s team headed to a remote village near Djibouti to check on a small boy. The boy’s right arm and leg showed a kind of paralysis that sometimes indicates polio. “The village polio volunteer in this mountainous area, geographically inaccessible, found an acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) case,” Dr Fatima remembers.  When children show signs of this paralysis, it’s critical to get stool samples to a laboratory to determine whether they...

23 April 2020

23 April 2020 – The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to rise in Somalia, including associated deaths attributed to coronavirus disease. While the number of cases increase, there is increasing demand on the health system for patient care. When health systems are strained and overwhelmed, especially in fragile and vulnerable settings like in Somalia where adequate mechanical ventilators and other critical care support for patient care are basic, rudimentary or absent, mortality from the outbreak may increase substantially over time. Since the beginning of the outbreak, 7 associated deaths...

23 April 2020

23 April 2020 – In Somalia's COVID-19 response, being ahead of the curve is the only way to stop transmission and limit spread of the virus in the community. Enhancing active surveillance and expanding its geographic coverage to include both the private and public sector using a syndromic-based approach is the best way to detect cases early. In Somalia, in the absence of any routine disease surveillance system, EWARN is doing what it was intended to do and what the system did best in other outbreak situations.    EWARN, a disease surveillance...

23 April 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic escalates the WHO country office has helped Somalia rapidly build and scale up the testing capacity for COVID-19 in Somalia. In March 2020, when the country’s first case of COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in Somalia, the country had no capacity for testing and diagnosis of COVID-19. WHO sent nasopharyngeal swab from 4 returnee travellers, all Somali citizens, to Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) in Nairobi which has an accredited Biosafety Level-2 (BSL-2) laboratory for viral and emerging pathogens supported by WHO and the United States Centers for Disease...

08 April 2020

The WHO country office is supporting the Ministry of Health and Human Services of the Federal Government of Somalia, as well as all state health authorities to scale up operational readiness for early detection and response to large scale community transmission from coronavirus disease (COVID-19). As of 6 April, the government has officially reported 7 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19, 2 of these cases were reported from Somaliland. While 6 of these reported cases have travel history before they became sick or were quarantined, the investigation on the remaining case suggests that...

08 December 2019

8 December 2019 – The first phase of a nationwide integrated polio and measles vaccination campaign has concluded in Somalia having achieved high coverage. WHO in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and UNICEF launched the first phase of the campaign from 24 to 28 November 2019, targeting more than 1.7 million children under the age of five for polio vaccination and more than 1.5 million children aged six to 59 months for measles vaccination and vitamin A supplementation. This is the first time that an integrated campaign such...

24 November 2019

MOGADISHU, 24 November 2019 - Health authorities launched today a campaign to vaccinate 1.7 million children against measles and polio in Benaadir, Galguduud, Hirshabelle, Jubaland and South West State, Somalia. The 5-day campaign, running from 24 to 28 November, will target children under the age of 5 with polio vaccines and children aged 6 to 59 months with measles vaccines. The vaccination campaign, conducted in partnership with the Somali government, World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), also includes a vitamin A supplement for children under 5 to...

18 November 2019

18 November 2019 – Recent flooding has plunged Somalia further into a deep humanitarian crisis. Heavy rains in Somalia and Ethiopian highlands led to increased water levels in the rivers Shbelle and Juba, which has affected an estimated 539 888 people and lead to the displacement of over 370 000 people, leaving 25 dead and 47 injured. According to the monitoring of the Somalia Water and Land Information Management, heavier and continuing rains are expected, which may lead to greater displacement. As a result of the flooding, health facilities have been damaged...

15 September 2019

Mogadishu, 16 September 2019 – Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Somalia experienced a significant milestone yesterday when WHO and the Federal Government of Somalia launched the roadmap to UHC for Somali people in a formal ceremony held at the Somali state house today. The UHC roadmap portrays the strategic framework and medium-term goals for the Somali health sector and was developed jointly by the Somali Ministry of Health and Human Services along with WHO, UN and development partners, civil society organizations and the donor community. The three strategic goals of...