Fuel prices across Somalia have surged sharply in the wake of the escalation of conflict in the Middle East, driving up transport and food costs. This has made it more expensive, challenging, and time-consuming for people to seek lifesaving health care.
In a country already hit by drought and multiple health challenges, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns these rising costs could have a devastating impact on access to basic health care for millions of people. We urge non-governmental organizations and the international community to step up their response in the country.
Key takeaways
- Transport costs have risen up to 50 percent in some areas of Somalia, making it even harder for people to reach health facilities.
- Rising fuel prices are also making it more expensive to deliver health care, as it has increased the cost of transporting medical supplies.
- Somalia’s health system is already on the verge of collapse: Over 200 health and nutrition facilities have closed since early 2025 due to sharp cuts to humanitarian funding. In Baidoa and Mudug, MSF’s facilities are among the few functional providers of free health care.
- The crisis could also affect food prices in Somalia, where 1 in 3 people face acute food insecurity and over 1.8 million children under 5 are at risk of acute malnutrition.
Hospitals are becoming more expensive to reach and operate
Fuel is becoming scarce, if available at all, in parts of Somalia, which makes it harder for patients to reach hospitals and for hospitals to keep running. So far in March, MSF has spent 20 percent more on fuel to keep hospital services functioning compared to February.
MSF facilities in Baidoa and Mudug are among the few functional providers of free health care. Our teams see children arrive in critical condition after journeys of hundreds of miles to seek care. With fuel prices soaring, these journeys are becoming unaffordable for many families, and transport costs were already a growing barrier to reaching hospitals.
Somalia 2026 © Mohamed Abdirahman/MSF
“We delayed coming [to the hospital] because we could not afford the transport. It has become much more expensive and difficult than before. Many people are now forced to walk long distances just to reach health care.”
Halima Omar, patient at MSF's Mudug Regional Hospital
"We delayed coming because we could not afford the transport,” said Halima Omar, a patient at MSF's Mudug Regional Hospital. She traveled 12 hours with her 45-day-old son, Muscab, to get to the hospital. "It has become much more expensive than before, and many people are now forced to walk long distances just to reach health care.”
In Baidoa, MSF has noted a 25-percent rise in the local price of fuel, from $1.20 to $1.50 per liter. Water trucking costs have risen 40 percent within the city, from $50 to $70 per trip. In Mudug, fuel has increased by 33 percent, from $0.75 to $1.00 per liter, and local transport costs have risen by 50 percent.
Electricity prices are also expected to increase
Electricity price increases are expected in both Baidoa and Mudug as bills catch up with the market. For the communities our teams serve, and for smaller facilities and local health workers with no institutional budget to absorb the shock, the impact is expected to be far worse. By increasing the cost of transporting medical supplies and other essential items, the rising fuel prices are making it more expensive to deliver care.
“Fuel is becoming scarce and unaffordable, and the people who pay the price are our patients: mothers who cannot reach the maternity ward, children who never make it to the feeding center,” said Dr. Elshafie Mohammed, MSF country representative in Somalia.
Supply chain disruptions will have months-long effects
The disruption goes beyond fuel. Somalia imports almost all of its critical medical and humanitarian supplies, and many organizations’ regional warehouses are located in the Middle East. Sustained disruption to shipping and air corridors could delay the supply of lifesaving medicines, food to treat malnutrition, and equipment by months.
Somalia was already in dire condition before fuel prices reached their highest level in years. More than 6.5 million people, nearly 1 in 3 Somalis, face acute food insecurity. Over 1.8 million children under 5 are at risk of acute malnutrition.
What’s causing the Somalia fuel crisis?
The soaring fuel prices in Somalia are being driven by the escalation of conflict in the Middle East and disruptions to key global shipping routes, including through the Strait of Hormuz.
In 2025, MSF teams in Baidoa recorded a 42 percent surge in admissions for severe acute malnutrition compared to 2024. In Mudug, admissions rose nearly 60 percent in the same period.
Somalia imports roughly 90 percent of its food, and prices for staples were already rising before the latest crisis. With global shipping disruptions pushing costs higher, families are struggling to afford both food in addition to the transport needed to reach health care.
Somalia’s health system is already on the verge of collapse
The fuel shock compounds a health system already on the verge of collapse. Since early 2025, more than 200 health and nutrition facilities have closed across Somalia due to a sharp cut in humanitarian funding.
“Somalia's communities cannot afford for the humanitarian response to slow down at this moment,” said Dr. Mohammed. “Every organization working here must step up, and the international community must ensure that the resources are in place to keep that response running.”
“Without collective action now, people will lose access to the health care they desperately need and have nowhere else to turn to," he said.
MSF in Somalia
MSF supports hospitals, runs mobile clinics, and is conducting a drought emergency response in Baidoa and Mudug. In January and February 2026, MSF-supported facilities and mobile teams provided 42,765 outpatient consultations for children and adults, including 13,379 consultations for children under 5 years old.
Over the same period, MSF outreach teams screened 17,133 patients for malnutrition and admitted 4,564 severely malnourished children to outpatient and inpatient therapeutic feeding centers. Our teams are also responding to the current drought in the country. We have delivered over 32 million liters (More than 8 million gallons) of safe drinking water, rehabilitated two boreholes, and distributed 1,050 hygiene kits and jerry cans for water to displaced families.
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