The UK Department for International Development (DfID) has awarded a grant of £750,000 towards International Medical Corps’ on-going work in Somalia. The grant will ensure the provision and maintenance of essential, primary healthcare services for around 115,000 people in the Bakool and Hiran regions of Somalia.
Constant political instability, clan fighting, erratic rains, and the absence of basic social service infrastructure in Somalia has battered local coping mechanisms and left already vulnerable groups increasingly exposed.
As such, Somalia’s health indicators are some of the worst in the world—life expectancy is 47 years and almost one-quarter of all children die before the age of five.
Under the new grant from DfID International Medical Corps will focus on the two regions of Somalia most affected by recent droughts and the influx of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The programme will support 29 village health posts, three mobile health clinics and a basic emergency obstetric centre. International Medical Corps will also continue to implement nutrition programmes.
More than 23,000 children aged below five years and 4,600 pregnant women will benefit directly from the project – an estimated 5,590 suffering from severe or moderate malnutrition.