Hero in the Field: Dr. Denis Mukwege

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Dr. Denis Mukwege is founder of Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he and his staff have cared for more than 50,000 survivors of sexual violence. They include women who have been raped in front of their families and girls brutally assaulted by combatants during the country’s two decades of civil war. Some of his patients are infants—less than one-year-old—who have been raped.

For someone who has witnessed so much cruelty and suffering, Dr. Mukwege could be forgiven for not having a very hopeful view of our world. But when I met him in New York last year, I was struck not only by his warmth and gentleness, but also his incredible optimism.

“What is keeping me going is really the strength of women. I discovered how women are strong, how women can rebuild, and give hope for our humanity,” he told me. “They have taught me a lot about how we can make our world better, by not only thinking about yourself but to think about other people.”

As a boy growing up in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Dr. Mukwege was drawn to a life of service to others. He would accompany his father, a pastor, as he went from home to home to pray for the sick in their community. While he admired his father’s faith, he wanted to use the power of medicine to help heal them. At age 8, he decided he would become a doctor.

“We can change hate by love.”

He went to medical school in France where he specialized in pediatrics. As he learned about how many women were dying giving childbirth, especially in his own country, he switched to obstetrics.

When he returned to Africa, he opened a center to provide maternity care in the city of Bukavu in eastern Congo. It was the first clinic of its kind in the entire region. But the first patient he saw didn’t come because she was pregnant. She had been raped and shot. In the months that followed, dozens more rape survivors showed up at his hospital. By year’s end, Dr. Mukwege had treated hundreds of survivors and their numbers kept growing. He soon learned that rape was being used by soldiers to intimidate and displace entire communities, causing the women and their families to flee.

“When rape is used as a weapon of war, the impact is not only to destroy women physically, it’s also to destroy their minds . . . to destroy their humanity,” he said. 

At first, Dr. Mukwege focused on treating the women’s physical wounds. But he soon realized that it was not enough. Most of the women had been so traumatized that they could not go back home and restart their lives. So, he designed a more comprehensive approach to care that goes beyond physical healing and focuses on psychological support and socioeconomic assistance. He also started a legal program to pursue justice for the survivors of sexual violence.

Looking back over the thousands of patients he’s seen over the years, Dr. Mukwege says one case stands out for him. It’s the first patient he treated—more than two decades ago. She underwent six surgeries and, at first, was unable to walk. She thought her life was ruined, he recalled.

But she was inspired to help others who had experienced what she had. She enrolled in school and dedicated her life to taking care of other victims of sexual violence. Today, she is one of the longest serving employees at Panzi Hospital, where she helps patients put the pieces of their lives back together. Thanks to her efforts and the work by the rest of Dr. Mukwege’s staff at Panzi Hospital, thousands of women have been able to rebuild their lives—some even going on to become nurses, doctors, and lawyers.

“The goal is to transform their pain into power,” Dr. Mukwege said. “We can change hate by love.”

By Bill Gates 

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Getting medicine to flood victims in Somalia

Infographic on Somalia flooding and funding needs

9 May 2018 – Recent flash and river flooding in Somalia has affected an estimated 772 000 people and displaced nearly 230 000 people from their homes. The World Health Organization in Somalia is responding to the health needs of the most vulnerable, including by airlifting emergency medical supplies to different parts of the country. 

The Gu rainy season, which runs from late March to June, began with regular rainfall. However, in the first half of April, rain levels increased to some of the highest on record for the past nearly 40 years. In some places, nearly twice the normal average amount of rain came down, causing flash and river flooding across central and southern Somalia – an area that is already vulnerable because of repeated droughts and ongoing conflict. At least 25 people have been killed. The destruction caused by water has been widespread and devastating affecting farming, schools, roads and shelters for internally displaced people. 

“We haven’t seen this kind of rain in decades. Now, hundreds of thousands of very vulnerable people are being hit again,” says Dr Ghulam Rabani Popal, WHO Representative for Somalia. 

An estimated 772 000 people are in need of humanitarian aid, including food, clean water, and health care. The risk of water and vector-borne diseases like cholera, malaria, dengue fever, and chikungunya has also increased. To respond, WHO is leading health partners to work together on detecting disease outbreaks, building cholera treatment centres, training health workers, providing mosquito nets, and distributing medical supplies.

Since road transport is near impossible, this month WHO staff have successfully airlifted 45 tonnes of medical supplies to different states in the country, including Hirshebelle, South West, Jubaland, Galmudug, and Puntland. The supplies will have an immediate positive impact on the health needs of flood-affected Somalis, while longer term response plans are being put into place. As the Global Health Cluster lead agency, WHO is also coordinating the response of all health partners, to ensure the work gets done as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Dr Popal added:

 “These shipments of medicine and other medical materials will address the immediate needs of vulnerable people. WHO’s staff and all our partners in health are working around the clock to save lives, as well as plan for the long term health of all the people of Somalia.”

Somalia flooding and funding needs

Survivor Of Rwandan Genocide To Be Country's First Female Neurosurgeon

Dr. Claire Karekezi says the genocide is what made her understand that "we cannot count on anyone but ourselves."

Dr. Claire Karekezi will return to her home in Rwanda in July as the first and only female neurosurgeon in the entire country.

The 35-year-old has been studying neuro-oncology and skull base surgery, with a specialty in brain tumor removal, at Toronto Western Hospital in Canada since last year.

GALIT RODAN/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Her 12-year journey in medicine thus far comes after a childhood surrounded by horror and tragedy. The 1994 genocide in Rwanda took the lives of hundreds of thousands, including some of Karekezi’s cousins and aunts.

Karekezi told The Toronto Star in an article published on May 13 that the genocide is “what sort of made us who we are today as Rwandese people because we grew up knowing that we cannot count on anyone but ourselves.”

She added she believes in doing “whatever it takes to get where I want to go.”

“I keep pushing because the genocide happened, the whole world was watching and no one did anything. But we came through that, we are a strong nation, and we have very brave people who have managed to do impressive things now,” she told the publication.

Karekezi finished high school in Rwanda and then went to a local university on a full government scholarship. Her medical schooling journey then took her to Sweden ― her first time away from home. Her time in Sweden serendipitously introduced her to neurosurgery as it was the only department operating during the time period in which she was in the country.

“I knew nothing about neurosurgery, I had no training in brain anatomy,” Karekezi told The Star, who had initial plans to study radiology.

The course of her life drastically changed since then, taking her everywhere from England to Morocco as she honed her skills and practice. She hopes that when she finally returns to Rwanda, she’ll collaborate with the four male neurosurgeons currently practicing in the country to launch a multidisciplinary neuro-oncology center.

Karekezi did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

Many on social media, including friends and fellow colleagues, praised Karekezi for her work and for the inspiration she’s given others

By Jenna Amatulli

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Meet the Indian Doctor Who Carries Bleeding Women on Cot for 10 KM to Public Health Center

While he doesn’t wear a cape, I wish he could fly – the work he does is beyond incredible.

Doctors are often revered and treated like demi-gods. One doctor who certainly deserves all the adulation and appreciation is Dr Omkar Hota. I would even say that he is a superhero –while he doesn’t wear a cape, I wish he could fly – the work he does is beyond incredible.

He recently shot to prominence when he undertook a 10-km journey, on foot, to the Public Health Centre (PHC) in Papulur, carrying a tribal woman, Subhama Marse, who had just given birth and was bleeding profusely.

Isn’t this what superheroes do? Save lives?

Carrying the woman to the PHC. Photo Source

Though the Papulur Health Center has been around for 15 years, no doctor has spent more than 24 hours as most refuse to work here. This area is known for two things – mosquitoes and naxals.

“When I came here, I found that very few patients would come to the hospital,” Dr Hota says. When they fall ill, the locals, who belong to the Konda, Reddy and Bonda tribes turned to traditional tribal medicine, often resulting in adverse results.

Soon after Dr Hota joined the medical centre, he started visiting villages, interacting with people, treating them and convincing them to come to the hospital if they fell ill, reported Rediff.

Subhama, is definitely not the first patient he shouldered to the hospital. He told Outlook magazine;

 “There have been cases of poisoning in the jungle where the patient has to be rushed immediately to the hospital. Or take the cases of the old and elderly for that matter, it is simply not possible for them to walk through the jungles.”

Though just a year-long, Dr Hota’s stint as a medical practitioner in the Maoist hinterland has been exemplary. The selfless doctor has never paid heed to his personal discomfort.

He says that he had promised his mother that he would become a doctor and treat the needy.

Being felicitated by Naveen Patnaik. Photo Source

How many doctors today can actually say that they do that?

Dr Hota is no stranger to awards. At an event organised last year, the Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, facilitated him while speaking highly of his selfless service. The award was instituted in the name of Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das, another person who is a symbol of sacrifice and selfless service.

At a recent event organised by UNICEF, Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan spoke highly of Dr Hota’s work.

With Kareena Kapoor Khan. Photo Source

She believes that every mother needs a safe pair of hands while delivering her baby.

Here’s hoping that other doctors are inspired by this story and follow suit.

(Edited by Shruti Singhal)

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Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Malaria in Somalia 2016

Introduction

The main objective of the malaria prevention and control programme in Somalia is to prevent mortality and reduce morbidity due to malaria. The groups most vulnerable to the disease, children aged under 5 years and pregnant women, are especially targeted. Effective case management - early diagnosis and treatment - is a critical component of malaria prevention and control. To achieve the main objective of reducing malaria morbidity and prevention of malaria mortality, the availability of safe, effective, affordable and accessible anti-malarial drugs is a prerequisite.

The first national diagnosis and treatment guidelines were developed in May 2005 following a consensus meeting held in Nairobi1 and updated in January 2011. Therapeutic efficacy studies conducted in 2011, 2013 and 2015 revealed high level of artesunate+sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine treatment failures (12-22%). These failure rates were above the 10% threshold level recommended by WHO (4) for changing antimalarial treatment policy. In these studies high efficacy (above 97% cure rate) of artemether+lumefantrince, second-line drug was found.

In view of the these findings, the guidelines were again updated during a consensus workshop on 22 – 23 February 2016 in Hargeisa, Somaliland. The recommendations in these updated guidelines are consistent with the National Malaria Control Strategy 2016–2020.

The updated guidelines provide adequate information to health workers on the specific details of malaria diagnosis and treatment at different levels of the health care system. The first part describes the management of uncomplicated malaria while the second part deals with management of severe malaria. The guidelines also provide recommendations for antimalarial medicines and dose regimens for intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women.

The objectives of treatment for uncomplicated malaria are to cure (radical) the infection rapidly, prevent progression to severe disease, reduce transmission of the infection to others and prevent the emergence of anti-malarial drug resistance.

The objectives of treatment for severe malaria are to prevent death, neurological deficit and recrudescence.

Malaria epidemiology

Malaria burden in Somalia

Although there are limited national data and statistics on the burden of malaria in Somalia, it is considered a major public health problem in the country. The dominat malaria species in the country has been Plasmodium falciparum accounting more than 95%. However, increased proportion of P. vivax has been reported from North-west (Somaliland) and Northeast (Puntland) zones. A screening of patients with fever of history of attending the Bosaso regional hospital during 4 January to 14 February 2016 revealed 37.0% (258/697) 12.8% (89/697) of P. falciparum and P. vivax respectively indicating that P. vivax accounted for 25.6% of the infections. Mixed infection accounted for 0.4% (3/697). In 2015, a total of 88 139 cases, of which only 17913 were laboratory confirmed, were reported (annex 1).
However, the reported figure seems far below the real burden considering that:

• 70% of people suffering from malaria symptoms seek help outside public health facilities;
• the performance of the health information system as a whole is far from satisfactory;
• recording of malaria cases at maternal and child health centres is poor;
• reporting by health facilities to WHO is irregular, inaccurate and incomplete.

On the other hand, owing to the inadequacy, inaccessibility and non-availability of public health care facilities with reliable laboratory diagnostic facilities for the confirmation of malaria, overdiagnosis of malaria remains a serious problem. In most cases, the diagnosis of malaria is clinical and based only on fever or a history of fever. This makes it difficult to arrive at a true estimation of the malaria burden. The World malaria report 2015 estimated that there were 310 000-1 300 000 cases of uncomplicated malaria and 42-4800 malaria deaths in Somalia.

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Beyond Security: The Bliss That UPDF Brings to Somalia

A somali woman underdoing medical check up at UPDF facility

In short
The interior of Somalia is poverty stricken. People have no access to basic needs such as health, water, food among others. Malnourished children, depressed and idle men and women living in fear of insecurity are what make living in the interior of Somalia quite depressing.

A market for women, a football playground for youth, food supplies and health services, are some of the projects that Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) contingent under the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has started for folks in Somalia.

It's these projects that have aided the friendship between UPDF soldiers and communities in a country ruined by war and anarchy. The Ugandan troops have served for 11 years.

With a force of about 5,700 soldiers in Somalia, Uganda is in charge of Banadir region which covers Mogadishu city and Lower Shabelle regions. The lower Shabelle region covers part of Somalia's Indian Ocean coastline.

Uganda has three Battle Grounds in Somalia. The first is situated in Afgooye District, 30 kilometres from Mogadishu; the second in Ceelijaale, 125 kilometres from Mogadishu, and the third, in Barawe - south-west of lower Shabelle, 240 kilometres from Mogadishu.

From Ceelijaale, Our reporter observes that the interior of Somalia is poverty stricken. People have no access to basic needs such as health, water, food among others. Malnourished children, depressed and idle men and women living in fear of insecurity are what make living in the interior of Somalia quite depressing.

A glance at a sedentary old woman from a distance presents a striking resemblance of children who may also be indistinguishable from their parents. The people's miseries are compounded by lack government visibility in the areas where they dwell.

In such a situation, UPDF soldiers are largely the source of basic needs for Somalis living in their operation zones.

Muhumuza Wilberforce Fred, a UPDF medic at Ceeljaale Battle Group headquarters says they attend to between 40 to 70 patients every day with ailments such as diarrhoea, tuberculosis,  respiratory infections and diabetes, which is common among elderly men and women.


Muhumuza says they have not come across HIV and AIDS-related conditions. What is common, he explains is malnutrition-related ailments.

According to 2016 statistics from the Somalia National Aids Commission, Somalia has a total of 26,000 people living with HIV & AIDS with 51 percent of them being women.

This figure includes those living in Southern Somalia, self-proclaimed independent states of Puntland and Somaliland. HIV and AIDS is still considered a taboo subject as is directly associated with promiscuity in a country where 99 percent of the population profess Islam.


Fatumah Muhammad, who connects Somalis to UPDF soldiers as an interpreter says health is generally bad because there are no health facilities apart from AMISOM services. She explains that diarrhoea prevalence generally goes up in January and February. When people fall sick, Fatumah says, they consult AMISOM commanders for treatment.

Adjacent to Ceeljaale battle group headquarters is an open space, often used as a market every evening. According to Maj Joram Kabegambire, the initiative was started to help needy and widowed women to earn a living. Often, UPDF soldier use the same market to purchase merchandise

Maj Kabegambire says they are planning a tailoring project through which women will be given sewing machines.


The UPDF has also established two playgrounds for youth, a group categorized as the most vulnerable due to the possibility of being swayed into terrorism activities by Alshabaab.
In the absence of schools, these playgrounds have become a relief to youths for play soccer morning and evening. Soccer has also unified youths from different clans who were once adversaries., according to Maj Kabegambire.

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Young Somali woman goes from refugee camp to medical school in 5 years

Hodan Abdi, a Somalian who just five years ago was in an Ethiopian refugee camp now is about to graduate with a degree in chemistry from the the University of Utah and will be starting Medical school in August, studies outside the Marriott Library on the U. campus in Salt Lake City on Sunday, April 22, 2018.

A Somalian woman, who arrived to the U.S. as a refugee five years ago speaking very little English, gave one of the graduation speeches at the University of Utah about how she earned a chemistry degree and got accepted to start medical school at the University of Minnesota.

It only took Hodan Abdi a day to write the speech for the university's Thursday commencement ceremony about the struggle she faced growing up in war-torn Somalia and the journey that led her to pursuing her dreams, the Deseret News reported .

Hodan Abdi, a Somalian who just five years ago was in an Ethiopian refugee camp now is about to graduate with a degree in chemistry from the the University of Utah and will be starting Medical school in August, studies outside the Marriott Library on the U. campus in Salt Lake City on Sunday, April 22, 2018.

"I want to talk about how professors have helped me and how I will use my education," she said.

Before her May 3 graduation, Abdi remembered her life at a refugee camp in Ethiopia and cried as she thought about her friends, who although hardworking, do not have the same opportunities she does.

"School is everything," she said.

Abdi's family fled Somalia to get away from the dangers brought by its civil war.

Hodan Abdi, a Somalian who just five years ago was in an Ethiopian refugee camp now is about to graduate with a degree in chemistry from the the University of Utah and will be starting Medical school in August, studies outside the Marriott Library on the U. campus in Salt Lake City on Sunday, April 22, 2018.

Rebels frequently targeted schools and universities, preventing Abdi from getting a formal education until she was 13.

But that didn't stop the young girl from studying Shakespeare, the Greeks and Isaac Newton at home when she wasn't busy talking care of her siblings and teaching herself English from reading books and watching American movies.

She was 18 when her family was granted a visa and moved to Utah.

Because she was too old to go to high school, Abdi got a job cleaning student housing at the University of Utah to help support her family.

It was there that she met Martha Archuleta, a mentor from Catholic Community Services, who encouraged her to pursue a GED diploma.

"Science and math were harder in the camp," she notes, "but I struggled with the reading."

She went on to study at Salt Lake Community College in 2013 and at the University of Utah in 2015.

Abdi's experiences watching her brother nearly die while trying to get medical attention for epilepsy and seeing the lack of doctors and medical facilities for refugees inspired her to become a doctor, she said.

After medical school, she said she hopes to work for the World Health Organization or Doctors Without Borders.

SOURCE

The killer virus, poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2), discovered in Somalia two months ago, has also been detected in a sewage sample in Nairobi city.

Kenya’s effort to fully fight polio has been dealt a major blow following the discovery of an infectious virus in parts of Nairobi. The killer virus, poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2), discovered in Somalia two months ago, has also been detected in a sewage sample in the city. 

Poliovirus [Photo: Courtesy]

According to the World Health Organisation [WHO], no cases of polio have been discovered or children reported paralysed in Kenya or Somalia but children are at a high risk of contracting the virus. WHO added that response activities are underway and neighbouring countries have been alerted to strengthen their surveillance for the poliovirus and assess their immunity. 

“In Somalia, three cVDPV2s were isolated from environmental samples collected January 4 and 11, 2018, from Hamarweyn district in Banadir province (Mogadishu).  These latest isolates are genetically linked to previously isolated VDPV2s from 2017, collected on 22 October and 2 November 2017 from environmental samples collected from Waberi district, Banadir province. 

In Kenya, one cVDPV2 was isolated from an environmental sample collected on March 21, 2018 from Nairobi, linked to the cVDPV2 previously confirmed in Somalia,” reads part of WHO’s statement.

Know if news is factual and true. Text 'NEWS' to 22840 and always receive verified news updates. Kenya and Somalia conducted their last immunization campaigns with trivalent OPV in early 2016, in advance of the trivalent to bivalent OPV switch in April 2016. Searches for residual trivalent OPV stocks are ongoing including public, private and NGOs. No tOPV stocks have been found. Neighbouring countries across the Horn of Africa, including in Yemen, have also been alerted, and public health authorities are assessing overall immunity levels and strengthen disease surveillance.

WHO said that investigations are underway to establish the origin of the virus so as to prevent it from spreading further. “Investigations are currently ongoing to determine the source and origin of this virus, where it initially emerged and where it moved to.  However, it is clear that two countries in the Horn of Africa are currently affected, and the overriding priority is to stop this virus in the known affected areas and prevent it from spreading further,” said

The world health body pointed out that there are various challenges to ensure that the virus is stopped from spreading such as the inaccessibility of children for vaccination over extended periods of time and high levels of population movement in and out of the infected region/s. WHO in 2015 urged the Catholic Church in Kenya to drop its call on Kenyans to boycott the polio vaccination campaign saying the vaccine is safe. This came as the controversy on the polio immunisation heightened as the Catholic Church questioned the safety of the vaccine. WHO said the vaccines were manufactured and procured to the highest standards and safety and there was no reason to doubt their safety.

Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis in hours. It mainly affects children under age 5 whose immunity to diseases is still relatively weak. The last polio outbreak in Kenya was in 2013 when 14 cases were reported, including two deaths. The Ministry of Health said that the outbreak was only successfully controlled after several rounds of vaccination campaigns.

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Gunmen kidnap German nurse from ICRC in Somali capital

       

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Unidentified gunmen kidnapped a German nurse from the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Wednesday night, police and the ICRC said.

Abductions and killings of Somali aid workers are common in the Horn of Africa country, but targeting foreign workers has become less frequent in recent years as security has improved.

“We got the report minutes after she was abducted and now we are searching the whole area. We hope we shall find her,” Major Mohamed Hussein, a police officer, told Reuters.

The ICRC said in a statement the abduction occurred around 8 pm (1700 GMT) on Wednesday.

The nurse, Sonja Nientiet, has worked for the ICRC since 2014 in conflict zones, including Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This week in Mogadishu, she had been delivering first aid training for local responders, the IRCR said. She also cared for Somalis at hospitals, health clinics and places of detention, the ICRC said.

“She is a nurse who spends her days caring for vulnerable people in Somalia — the sick, the wounded. She’s a true humanitarian,” said Crystal Wells, ICRC’s spokeswoman in Nairobi.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the abduction.

The Swiss-based agency, which has provided humanitarian aid in Somalia for years, said it was in touch with a range of authorities.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said at a news conference in the Ethiopian capital on Thursday that the government could not comment on the case.

The organization’s staff had earlier told Reuters that the kidnappers snatched their colleague from inside their compound in Mogadishu and took her out through a back door, avoiding security guards stationed at the main entrance.

Residents said the district where the abduction occurred was quickly sealed off by police and other security forces.

Somalia has suffered lawlessness since 1991, when warlords ousted dictator Siad Barre and then turned on each other. Major armed conflict has abated in recent years, but al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants still regularly launch attacks.

On Tuesday, unidentified gunmen shot dead a Somali World Health Organization employee in Mogadishu.

A relative of the victim identified her as Maryan Abdullahi and said she was targeted while visiting the Bakara market in the capital to buy items for her wedding next week. The motive for the shooting was not clear and the gunmen escaped.

 Abdi Sheikh

SOURCE

Nearly 175,000 Somalis Displaced by Deadly Flash Flooding as Heavy Rains Continue

Read more »

Somali aid worker killed in shooting in Mogadishu

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Unknown gunmen shot dead on Tuesday a Somali aid worker who worked for the World Health Organization (WHO) as a logistics officer, her relatives and police said. 

One of the victim’s relatives named her as Maryan Abdullahi and said she had been shot while visiting the Bakara market in the capital Mogadishu to buy items for her wedding that had been due to take place next week. 

Mohamud Ibrahim added that she had been shot by “unknown men armed with pistols” at the market bus stop.
The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear and government officials could not be reached for comment. Police said the gunmen had escaped after the shooting. 

A U.N. worker who asked not to be identified said the woman had been based in Baidoa, a town about 245 km (150 miles) northwest of Mogadishu.
Somalia has been in a state of lawlessness since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Siad Barre and then turned on each other. 

By: Abdi Sheikh

Source 

Somaliland: Burao Residents Protested Against the High Cost of Medical Supplies in the Government Hospital

     
 The residents of Burao town came out in droves to demonstrate about exorbitant prices of medical supplies and services. According to information reaching us the minister of health development Dr.Hassan Ismael Yusuf who was on a working visit to Burao has turned a deaf ear despite the residents' pleas for his intervention.
Many people who had lost their livelihood during the drought that had wiped out most of their livestock lamented that the public hospital had become more expensive than private hospital. 

A poor mother called Halimo speaking to Star TV said that the doctors and nurses at the institution were colluding to fleece them of their money. Medicine that is provided free of charge by international non-governmental organization is sold to unsuspecting members of the public. 

A man who recently lost all his livestock to drought said:

 'I have no job or livelihood I'm sick and cannot afford to pay for medicine this is causing me a lot of distress since these people understand nothing other than money.'

An elder known as Abdi Madoobe called on the minister to investigate the hospital which no longer serves the public but has become a business enterprise for those charged with the care of the sick. 

A man who had just arrived from Burao town to transfuse blood to a sick patient was told that it costs Somaliland Shillings 300,000 to take specimen of blood. He had no otherwise rather than go back to town. It was later confirmed the patient who needed the blood died following bureaucratic handicap of the hospital administrators. 

By: Guled Abdi Mahir 

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