Health Cluster

BAKOOL (SOHA) – The move by local aid agencies in Bakool region to cease operations has adversely affected local residents as medical centres supported by the agencies have been forced to close in the midst of a malaria outbreak. Local NGOs based in Bakool region running the centres have stopped …

MOGADISHU (SOHA) – Among the first rescuers rushing to the scene of Somalia’s deadliest truck bombing last year were, as usual, members of the country’s only free ambulance service, Aamin Ambulance. Founded over a decade ago by a Somali dentist and funded by donations, Aamin Ambulance has become an essential …

MOGADISHU (SOHA) – The UN Migration Agency has begun providing life-saving health care to two Somali towns previously inaccessible because of war and conflict. Tens of thousands of people in the towns of Gobweyn and Bulla Gaduud have been deprived of life-saving health care for nearly three decades. These areas …

MOGADISHU (SOHA) – The World Health Organization (WHO) is stepping up measures to contain cholera outbreak in Somalia amid decline in the number of cases and deaths in the past month. The UN health agency, which cited figures from the Health Ministry of Somalia, said 32 new suspected cases of …

GALKAYO (SOHA) – With no established blood banks in Somalia especially in the regions, patients in need of urgent blood transfusion risk death as medical facilities are forced to scout for donors. In Galkayo town in the central region of Mudug , a local hospital is now mobilizing donors and …

MOGADISHU (SOHA) – This World Polio Day, UNICEF and WHO are taking a moment to acknowledge the tremendous efforts made by the polio eradication workforce and partners over the last two decades in Somalia. By way of one recent example, UNICEF, WHO, health authorities and partners are working tirelessly to …

MOGADISHU (SOHA) – Somali health officials say hospitals and health centres in Mogadishu have seen a dramatic rise in the number of people suffering from Tuberculosis (TB) over the past few months. According to Dr Mohamed Sheikh Omar, head of the TB ward at Banadir hospital, 73 people have been …

KISMAYO (SOHA) – The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is offering free corrective surgery to individuals with cleft lip and palate deformities in Kismayo. The two-week medical camp, being held at Kismayo General Hospital, plans to benefit more than 100 patients in Jubbaland state. AMISOM doctors are conducting the …

MANDERA (SOHA) – Mandera is prone to outbreaks of chikungunya, cholera, dengue fever and polio because of proximity to Somalia and the nomadic lifestyle of residents. Health executive Mohamud Aden on Monday said uncontrolled cross-border movement has led to spread of diseases from neighbouring Ethiopia and Somalia where there are …

On Thursday evening, Bilai Aden sat on her hotel bed, rocking her 10-month-old baby. The baby’s face was covered in a black hood and blanket, but Bilai would occasionally lift the fabric and peer inside. Baby Misky’s face, full of scars and dead skin, would be revealed. What was more …