The purpose of this guidance note is to support UNICEF staff in understanding the contextual factors (the practices, behaviours, social norms and wider factors) that shape risks of cholera transmission, being able to separate the social and cultural factors from those that are more structural or systemic.
The purpose of this guidance note is to support UNICEF staff in understanding the contextual factors (the practices, behaviours, social norms and wider factors) that shape risks of cholera transmission, being able to separate the social and cultural factors from those that are more structural or systemic. This note explores the Somali health system and Somalis treatment- seeking behaviours in general and specifically in the case of cholera.
The drought in the Horn of Africa and the protracted conflict has created a humanitarian emergency that has led to a declaration of famine in several regions of Somalia and the Somali region of Ethiopia. As a result of depleted water resources, widespread internal displacement, malnutrition, and inadequate water and sanitation facilities, cholera outbreaks have occurred.
Within the private sector there are numerous levels of private care, but the majority of private facilities offering clinical care are clustered in large cities and are only accessible to the few who can afford them (and indeed, wealthier Somalis fly out of Somalia when they need
higher levels of care). Private pharmacies on the other hand, are described as ubiquitous and offer a range of services that are accessible to a much wider proportion of society. Several studies have suggested they are the most used source of health care in Somaliland and other zones of Somalia. This report describes the private pharmacy sector and gives information for influencing programme design, to
allow public health actors to consider use of the private pharmacy network as important contributors to attaining
public health goals in Somaliland
The aim of this article is to contribute to this understanding of the wider health care system in a post-conflict Somali context, in particular in Somaliland. The fieldwork included participant observation and interviews of several local healers and their patients from the diaspora.
In the last two decades few countries have experienced a more protracted emergency than Somalia. Absence of a functioning central government and the ongoing conflict have led to a lack of access to basic social services, resulting in the country falling amongst the highest child and maternal mortality rates in the world. This learning paper by the Regional Emergency Cluster Advisor (RECA) project captures the experience of the Somalia WASH Cluster and draws lessons on how an effective knowledge management system can be developed and implemented.
The paper aims to provide an example framework of a successful knowledge management system that can be adapted by other national WASH Clusters to support a predictable, effective, timely and coherent WASH emergency preparedness and response. The paper concludes that practical knowledge management provides information, support and clarity to field level WASH practitioners, and enhances the impact and effectiveness of humanitarian response.
Andrew Seal and Rob Bailey discuss the limitations of data-driven humanitarian efforts, and the lessons learned from the 2011 Somalia famine.
The UN announcement of famine in Somalia is both a wake-up call to the scale of this disaster, and a wake-up call to the solutions needed to limit death-from-hunger now and in the future. So, what is famine and how can we prevent it? Famine is the “triple failure” of (1) food production, (2) people’s ability to access food and, finally and most crucially (3) in the political response by governments and international donors.
Crop failure and poverty leave people vulnerable to starvation – but famine only occurs with political failure. In Somalia years of internal violence and conflict have been highly significant in creating the conditions for famine.
Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an important neglected, emerging, mosquito-borne disease with severe negative impact on human and animal health. Mosquitoes in the Aedes genus have been considered as the reservoir, as well as vectors, since their transovarially infected eggs withstand desiccation and larvae hatch when in contact with water. However, different mosquito species serve as epizootic/epidemic vectors of RVF, creating a complex epidemiologic pattern in East Africa. The recent RVF outbreaks in Somalia (2006–2007), Kenya (2006–2007), Tanzania (2007), and Sudan (2007–2008) showed extension to districts, which were not involved before.
These outbreaks also demonstrated the changing epidemiology of the disease from being originally associated with livestock, to a seemingly highly virulent form infecting humans and causing considerably high-fatality rates. The amount of rainfall is considered to be the main factor initiating RVF outbreaks. The interaction between rainfall and local environment,
Significant pasture degradation and water shortages have been reported in parts of Somalia due to dry weather and high evaporation rates (FSNAU 18/03/2016). In total, one million people are estimated to be affected by the drought (DRC 11/03/2016). The most affected areas are the northern regions of Puntland and Somaliland Hiraan and Gedo regions in South central Somalia.In northern regions, two consecutive below-average rain seasons (July–September andOctober–December) have severely affected pasture and water conditions, and the current dry season (January–March) is worsening the situation.
Below-normal rain fall and drought conditions are leading to large-scale food insecurity, abnormal out migration of livestock, rising water prices, and a sharp increase in debt levels among poor households. Farmers and herders are the most affected (OCHA 09/03/2016). Some relief is expected with the 2016 rainy season in April, which is forecasted to be average