A laboratory technician collects a nasopharyngeal swab sample, then performs COVID-19 testing using Ag-RDT in rural health facility for Ag-RDT testing, Rako district, Karkaar region, referral health centre Collection of nasopharyngeal swab sample, South West State, Somalia 7 December 2021 - As emphasized by the World Health Organization (WHO),...

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...

Teams conducting External Quality Assurance for HIV testing to verify quality of laboratory testing in Gedo 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...

Photo credits: WHO/Andrew Kent 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...

Credits: WHO 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...

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...

Credit: UNSOM/Mukhtar Nuur 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...

Photo: UNICEF/Hinds 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...

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...

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,...