Medical aid to civilians worn down by war
International staff: 19
National staff: 298
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In early 2002, the "war on terrorism" briefly focused international
attention on Somalia as a potential harbor for terrorists.
Little mention was made of the country's real problems:
a long-running civil war, an inexistent or poorly functioning
health system, treatable diseases that kill thousands and, for
women, a very high chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth.
While providing medical aid in various parts of the country,
MSF is urging international actors to take notice of the desperate
situation in which many Somalis live.
MSF restarted its programs in the capital Mogadishu in May
2002, over a year after seizure of several staff members (later
released) forced suspension of the projects there. At mid-year,
fighting was continuing in and around the city. MSF offers consultations
in outpatient clinics and mother and child health
care programs. A cholera treatment camp has also been set up
to cope with periodic outbreaks.
Fighting in southern Somalia in May 2002 forced 10,000
Somalis to seek refuge in neighboring Kenya, and MSF teams
there were able to assist them. MSF voiced concern about pressure
being exerted by Kenyan authorities on refugees to return
to Somalia despite the continued fighting.
In Hudur, the capital of the Bakool region, MSF runs a tuberculosis
ward and therapeutic feeding center, as well as primary
care and kala azar (visceral leishmaniasis) projects. In summer
2002, a health post opened in the Rabdhure district, also in
Bakool. Coordination of a separate kala azar project in the south
was handed over to Health Net International in April 2002.
In Middle Shabelle, in Giowhar and Aden Yabal, MSF responds
to disease outbreaks and provides health care via health centers,
a network of mother and child health care programs
and vaccination campaigns. MSF also supports a 60-bed hospital
in the city of Galkaayo and three health centers in rural areas,
and cares for wounded civilians when fighting breaks out.
In January 2002, after a meningitis outbreak, MSF sent a team
to Hargeisa in Somaliland for a vaccination campaign, reaching 190,000 people. In Bossasso, in Puntland, MSF established
a cholera treatment camp in April 2002 when an epidemic
hit the city, and treated 1,100 patients in seven weeks.
Fighting in the area in May caused international volunteers
to evacuate for a week.
MSF has been active in Somalia since 1991.
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