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Prime Minister launches Somalia Immunization and Polio Eradication Task Force, calling for swifter action to end vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks
1 July 2024, Mogadishu, Somalia – In a landmark step to accelerate progress towards accelerating immunization coverage and ending polio in Somalia, the Prime Minister of Somalia, His Excellency Mr Hamza Abdi Barre, launched a national task force on immunization and polio and a related forum on 29 June 2024.
The Somalia Immunization and Polio Eradication Task Force (SIPE), which the Prime Minister himself will chair, will oversee and coordinate polio eradication and immunization efforts across the country. It will mobilize financial and technical resources and ensure that every child in Somalia is reached with life-saving vaccines. SIPE comprises key health officials at federal and state levels and international partners.
Speaking at the launch in Mogadishu, Prime Minister Barre reiterated his government’s commitment to stop the transmission of polio by providing strong support and oversight of polio eradication and routine immunization activities in Somalia.
“The establishment of the national task force on immunization and polio is a testament to my government’s commitment to this cause,” he said. “We commit to mobilize support for the implementation of the Somalia Emergency Action Plan, including working closely with the Federal Member States of Somalia and neighbouring countries to stop cross-border transmission.”
SIPE signifies Somalia’s commitment at a very high political level to stop polio – which has been circulating uninterrupted in the country for 7 years – and immunize children against vaccine-preventable diseases.
South-central Somalia is one of 7 areas identified by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative as consequential geographies. Such areas are prone to repeated polio outbreaks, which are hard to control because of overpopulation, fragile health systems and conflict. The other 6 areas are eastern Afghanistan; southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; Tete province and its hinterland in northern Mozambique; eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo; northern Yemen; and northern Nigeria. Outbreaks in these areas may be exported to other countries.
Since 2021, Somalia has confirmed 16 cases of polio, all in the south-central region. An estimated 1.5 million children have never been vaccinated and Somalia is one of 5 countries globally with an under-five mortality rate greater than 100 deaths per 1000 live births. Without intensified efforts, Somalia is unlikely to meet its 2030 Sustainable Development Goal target of no more than 25 deaths per 1000 live births.
The Prime Minister also launched the Child Survival Forum, which will review progress and devise strategies and an action plan to further reduce child mortality.
“I am proud to say that the Government of Somalia, along with our partners, has taken several steps to address these challenges, including initiatives such as Damal Caafimaad and Better Lives, to ensure universal health coverage for all,” said Minister of Health Dr Ali Hajji Aadam Abubakar. “I call upon all to support integrated service delivery, especially for children.”
“Immunization is a cornerstone of our public health strategy and has proven to be one of the most effective ways to protect our children from preventable diseases,” said Dr Abdirashid Mohamed Nur Jiley , Special Envoy of the President of Somalia on Health and Nutrition. “We have numerous challenges in Somalia but our commitment to immunization remains strong. Let us continue with renewed determination, knowing our efforts will yield a legacy for generations to come.”
Speaking virtually, Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, appreciated the honourable Prime Minister and Minister of Health’s commitment to address the pressing health challenges facing children in Somalia. “This high-level forum will be instrumental in addressing the protection of more than 1.5 million zero-dose children, who have never received a dose of life-saving vaccines, and help in bringing the longest-running outbreak of variant poliovirus to an end,” she said.
With 77 000 children in Somalia dying every year before their fifth birthday, and Somalia in urgent need of accelerated progress to reduce these deaths, the government has stepped up the much-needed leadership. Later in 2024, Somalia will introduce the pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines to prevent deaths caused by pneumonia and diarrhoea, both leading causes of child mortality.
At the global level, a resolution initiated by Somalia calling for accelerated action to end maternal and child mortality around the globe was adopted at the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly. This places Somalia among countries leading the way in tackling maternal and child mortality.
“The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is grateful for Somalia’s leadership and strong commitment to their children,” said Mr Andrew Stein, Deputy Director, Polio, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Through the government’s leadership, in partnership with nongovernmental organizations, work to stop polio and increase access to immunization is more robust than ever. I am confident that Somalia will prevent thousands of cases of polio, measles, pneumonia and vaccine-preventable diseases.”
At the heart of intensified efforts is immunization, which alone can prevent two thirds of child deaths. Yet, current immunization services in Somalia fall short of the scale and consistency required to make a positive impact on mortality. A recent assessment of health facilities found that immunization services are available in only 56% of public hospitals, 68% of health centres and 19% of primary health care units.
“For Somalia to attain progress, immunization services need to be provided more widely and consistently in as many health facilities as possible,” said acting United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Somalia Mr Charles Lolika. “We believe that with Somalia’s resilience and determination, supported by partners and strategies and guidelines to enhance maternal and child health, rapid progress is possible.”
The challenges facing Somalia are well documented. Decades of conflict have complicated service delivery, and climate-induced shocks such as droughts and floods have displaced millions of people, who now live in overcrowded areas with limited access to services. The country’s health system remains fragile, with inadequate human resources and a limited network of cold chain facilities for delivery of vaccines, especially in remote and hard-to-reach areas.
Notes to editors
Download media content on the launch of the task force and forum.
For more information, contact:
Mohamed Osman, Head of Communication and Public Engagement, Federal Ministry of Health
Email:
Victor Chinyama, Chief of Communication, UNICEF Somalia
Email:
Fouzia Bano, Communications Officer, WHO Somalia
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Japan and WHO’s new project targets 900 000 flood- and drought-affected people in Somalia
WHO Representative to Somalia Dr Reinhilde Van de Weerdt (left) met with H.E. Mr OKANIWA Ken, Ambassador of Japan to Somalia, to express appreciation for Japan’s support. Photo credit: WHO Somalia/M. Saydahmat12 June 2024, Mogadishu, Somalia – A critical project led by the WHO Country Office in Somalia aims to reach nearly 900 000 people with life-saving interventions over the course of 2024. The project targeting people in Somalia who are still living with the impacts of extreme climate events is supported by the Government of Japan with a generous grant of over US$ 700 000.
This new project follows the completion of an earlier project that benefited over 3 million people affected by drought and floods in Somalia with integrated health and nutrition services. This latest funding, allocated under the Japanese Supplementary Budget, thus represents continued support to Somalia from the Government of Japan.
The project is titled “Ensuring Access to Essential and Emergency Health Care for Drought (and Flood) -affected Communities Living in Hard-to-reach Areas in Somalia” and spans the entirety of 2024. It targets 15 flood- and drought-affected districts across the country. Working with the Ministry of Health and Human Services, WHO aims to mitigate the health impacts of recurrent climate shocks, food insecurity and disease outbreaks, especially cholera, while strengthening health system resilience.
“Japan’s continuous contribution will enable WHO to enhance our ongoing activities in responding to recurring and escalated cholera outbreaks in Somalia, particularly in areas affected by extreme weather events,” said Dr Reinhilde Van de Weerdt, WHO Representative to Somalia. “We are grateful for Japan’s longstanding support of our efforts to save lives and improve health outcomes in Somalia and the Greater Horn of Africa region, focusing on emergencies from COVID-19 to the drought and floods.”
Somalia has an ongoing cholera outbreak, which has been made worse since the floods of December 2023, which destroyed sanitation facilities and caused further displacements. Cholera spreads easily amid the poor sanitary conditions and limited access to basic health care. The outbreak is mainly concentrated in the Hirshabelle, Puntland, and South West states. Since January 2024, the country has reported over 9914 cases. Forecasts predict that the outbreak will continue due to anticipated heavy Gu rains expected until the end of June 2024, potentially leading to flash floods.
“The Government of Japan recognizes the urgent need to address the health challenges exacerbated by extreme weather events in Somalia,” said His Excellency Mr OKANIWA Ken, Ambassador of Japan to Somalia. “We are pleased to continue our partnership with Somalia. Through this project, we aim to support WHO’s efforts in delivering vital health care services, aiming to save lives and enhance resilience against the impacts of droughts and floods.”
Thanks to Japan’s funding, WHO will be able to improve access to essential health services through community-based interventions in underserved communities across 15 districts. These services will target 866 860 beneficiaries out of the almost 3.2 million people in need in those districts. The effort will focus on providing health and nutrition services, including immunization, for sick children and pregnant and lactating women.
The project will also strengthen referral linkages between communities and health facilities to improve quality, access and coverage of critical care. This includes in-patient treatment at stabilization centres for children with severe acute malnutrition with medical complications.
With Japan’s support, WHO will also assist the Ministry of Health and Human Services in strengthening prevention, early detection and prompt response to disease outbreaks, including cholera, at the district level.
For more information, contact:
Madinur Saydahmat, Partnerships Officer, WHO Somalia
Email:
Fouzia Bano, Communications Officer, WHO Somalia
Email:
Somalia marks World Immunization Week with a call to accelerate efforts to reach every child with essential, life-saving immunizations
29 April 2024, Mogadishu, Somalia – While marking World Immunization Week this year, Somalia’s Federal Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have jointly urged partners and donors to accelerate immunization efforts to reach every child in Somalia.
This year’s World Immunization Week coincides with the 50th anniversary of the global Essential Programme on Immunization and aims to spur greater engagement around immunization, to reiterate the importance of vaccination and improve the health and well-being of every child, everywhere. This year’s commemoration highlighted the successes of immunization in Somalia since 1978 and the challenges that require a concerted effort – the uninterrupted, 7-year circulation of the polio variant; the large number of children who have never been vaccinated (zero-dose children); the recurrent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, diphtheria and whooping cough; and the need for an expanded resource envelope to tackle these challenges.
Minister of Health Dr Ali Hajiadam Abubakar poses for a group photo with health partners to kick-start World Immunization Week 2024 in Mogadishu, Somalia. Photo credit: UNICEF/MaslahSpeaking at a press conference in Mogadishu on Sunday, Federal Minister of Health for Somalia Dr Ali Hajiadam Abubakar said that despite Somalia having had the best-performing immunization programmes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region historically, prolonged conflict and instability in the last few decades have resulted in a weakened, fragmented and severely underfunded health system.
“This year’s theme – Humanly Possible – serves as a powerful reminder of our collective responsibility to ensure that every child in Somalia has access to life-saving vaccines. The introduction of new vaccines such as the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and rotavirus vaccine later this year will further help us to combat pneumonia and diarrhoea, 2 diseases that contribute greatly to child mortality in Somalia,” he said.
“The coverage in Somalia is still insufficient to effectively combat vaccine-preventable diseases, and consequently we have experienced various outbreaks,” said Ms. Patience Musanhu, Senior Country Manager for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “I wish to reiterate Gavi’s commitment to continue its investment in vaccines and immunization to ensure equitable vaccination coverage across the country. I strongly urge all stakeholders to redouble their efforts to increase vaccination coverage to safeguard children against vaccine-preventable diseases.”
“Vaccines are one of the greatest success stories of public health. And yet, despite all the knowledge and resources available globally, children in Somalia continue to contract vaccine-preventable diseases. For example, in first quarter of 2024, 382 people have been confirmed for measles, 75% of which are children under 5 years of age in Somalia,” said Dr Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, WHO Representative to Somalia. “Greater efforts are needed, with an integrated approach to tackle the systemic challenges the country is facing by its health system, that affect the delivery of essential health services and hinder progress in Somalia’s commitment toward universal health coverage.”
Globally, immunization programmes have been the bedrock of primary health services in communities and countries due to their reach and coverage. A major landmark study released this week reveals that global immunization efforts have saved an estimated 154 million lives – or the equivalent of 6 lives every minute of every year – over the past 50 years. The vast majority of people saved – 101 million – were infants.
The study, led by WHO and to be published in The Lancet, shows that immunization is the single greatest contribution of any health intervention to ensuring babies not only see their first birthdays but also continue to lead healthy lives into adulthood.
“In Somalia, the threat from vaccine-preventable diseases remains alarmingly high, with an estimated 1.5 million children under 5 known as ‘zero-dose’ children. These children are the most vulnerable, having never received any vaccines, and are disproportionately affected by diseases such as measles, diphtheria and whooping cough,” said UNICEF Representative to Somalia Ms Wafaa Saeed. “Let us all commit, as leaders, health professionals and global citizens, to safeguard the future of our children by ensuring that every child in Somalia receives their right to immunization. Let’s make this humanly possible.”
Some of the challenges Somalia faces in ensuring all communities have access to vaccinations include a fragile health system, further impeded by conflict and natural disasters; limited access to cold chain facilities in remote areas and among hard-to-reach populations; and difficulty in reaching people living in insecure and inaccessible locations.
“The high number of unimmunized and underimmunized children in Somalia who live in contexts such as IDP [internally displaced person] camps, urban poor settings and hard-to-reach areas increases risks of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks. For the past 5 years, we have been grappling to respond to at least 2 outbreaks each year, as evident from the national surveillance reports,” said Save the Children Acting Country Director Dr Binyam Gebru. “While we stand here today in solidarity to mark this World Immunization Week, let’s reaffirm our commitment to ensure every child in Somalia gets immunized, which is a basic human right, and I believe with concerted efforts, this is humanly possible."
Over the years, WHO, UNICEF and partners have extended support to Somalia to develop systems to store different vaccines, establish systems to vaccinate children, and to compile and store data around immunization for decision-makers to use. Despite all the challenges, Somalia has had some success in getting more children vaccinated using strategies such as mobile outreach facilities in addition to fixed vaccination sites. Additionally, teams of health workers and social mobilizers, supported by the government, WHO and UNICEF, are regularly visiting communities to share messages on the benefits of vaccination.
Yet the country needs more support to protect children, particularly vulnerable ones, from vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, cholera, polio, diphtheria, tuberculosis, pertussis and tetanus.
For additional information, please contact:
Mohamed Osman, Head of Communication and Public Engagement, Federal Ministry of Health
Email:
Victor Chinyama, Chief of Communication, UNICEF Somalia
Email:
Fouzia Bano, Communications Officer, WHO Somalia
Email:
Somalia’s tangible progress on malaria, even in the face of new strains
A team engages in insecticide residual spraying as a core interruption measure in response to the malaria outbreak in Burtinle, in Puntland, Somalia. Photo credit: WHO Somalia/A. Mukhtar25 April 2024, Mogadishu, Somalia – Somalia managed to reduce the prevalence rate of malaria from 20.1% in 2015 to 4.1% in 2023 in the most affected areas by adopting an integrated disease response. The Federal Ministry of Health in Somalia led this work, with technical support from WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and financial support from the Global Fund.
Applying prevention, interruption and supplementary measures, Somalia’s malaria programme reduced disease incidence to as low as 3.4% in 2022, as documented by the country’s National Malaria Control Programme. The slight increase in incidence in 2023, to 4%, was due to the impact of drought and floods in the country.
Marking World Malaria Day 2024, Dr Sagal Roble of the Federal Ministry of Health thanked the partners and donors for helping Somalia to achieve this tangible progress. She also urged the continued support of the partners to address the new strains of malaria emerging in the country and to sustain gains made in the fight against malaria across Somalia. Such an approach supports this year’s World Malaria Day theme of “Accelerating the fight against malaria for a more equitable world”.
During 2023, Somalia increasingly detected a new strain of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which is hard to detect with the usual rapid diagnostic test, as well as a new urban invasive vector for malaria, the mosquito Anopheles stephensi, in several districts.
A prolonged drought affected Somalia from 2022 to 2023, and the country has since been hit by heavy rainfalls due to the El Niño phenomenon. Such rapid changes to climate, including temperature, rainfall patterns and humidity, could easily lead to further geographic expansion of malaria transmission or new variation.
Somalia also has a large number of people on the move: nomadic communities, internally displaced people, and people entering from the neighbouring countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Yemen. This tends to increase the disease prevalence, including malaria, owing to contributing factors such as overcrowded environments, limited access to health care, and lack of awareness.
Dr Jamal Amran, WHO Somalia’s focal person for malaria control, highlighted: “Detection of new malaria strains, compounded by persistent insecurity and health impacts of climate change, may exacerbate the malaria situation in the country.”
Malaria directly endangers health and costs lives. The disease also continues the vicious cycle of inequity, as it disproportionately affects the most vulnerable groups, including pregnant women, children aged under 5 years, refugees, migrants and internally displaced people.
The WHO Country Office in Somalia, in partnership with UNICEF, continues to support the Federal Ministry of Health to implement Somalia’s National Malaria Strategic Plan 2021–2026.
For more information, please contact:
Fouzia Bano, Communications Officer, WHO Somalia
Email:
Saeed Ahmed, Donor Reporting Officer, WHO Somalia
Email:
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