WHO seeks 5 mln USD for health response operations in Somalia

MOGADISHU,  The UN health agency said Sunday it is suffering a funding gap of 5 million U.S. dollars required to maintain its first line health response operations in Somalia. 
World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement issued in Mogadishu that the funding will also help the agency maintain its national capacity building activities on the management of emergency outbreaks. 
"WHO will continue providing the Somali federal ministry of health with the technical advice and logistic support required to contain the threat of communicable disease outbreaks that challenge the health welfare of the Somali people," said Ghulam Popal, WHO Representative in Somalia. 
He said the good cooperation between WHO and the health ministry has succeeded in building qualified national capacities to expand the outbreak management training program at the community level. 
Popal was speaking when he opened a two-day cascade training on case management of Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD)/cholera for 250 community health volunteers from six cholera hot spot districts in Banadir region of Mogadishu. 
The volunteered health workers were selected from the groups previously trained to support the different community AWD/ cholera prevention initiatives for home-based management of fever, malnutrition, oral cholera vaccine mobilization, antenatal care, as well as Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance at the community level. 
The training is part of the cholera preparedness plan designed earlier in 2017 with the aim of preventing AWD/Cholera outbreaks during the rainy season in districts characterized by repeated cholera outbreaks. 
Trainees will be provided with guidelines on the prevention of AWD/Cholera, hygiene and sanitation promotion, preparation of home-made ORS solution and its use, in addition to the administration of Zinc tablets. 
According to the WHO, over 800 health and community health workers received trainings on AWD/Cholera case management supported by as of November. 
Between January and November, a total of 78,596 cases with 1,159 associated deaths were reported from 55 districts in 19 most affected regions of Somalia, WHO said. Enditem