A maternity and children’s hospital in Somalia’s capital built by a Turkish aid organization has opened.
Somalilandsun – Turkey’s Helping Hands International Humanitarian Aid Association laid the foundation of the hospital in 2011 and today the hospital building is completed, Sadik Danisman, the association’s president said on Thursday.
The 27,000-square meter hospital in Mogadishu has been stocked with equipment and medicines from Turkey.
The facility will provide operations, emergency and neonatal care, intensive care and management services.
Danisman touched on the Humanium international child sponsorship NGO statistic that Somalia’s infant mortality rate is traumatically high “with an average of 180 deaths for every 1,000 births”.
Somali children mainly die from dehydration and illnesses like diarrhea, malaria, and pneumonia and cholera epidemics, Danisman added.
According to the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), Turkey has carried out humanitarian work across over 40 countries in four continents to help those in need after an earthquake, flood, fire, civil war or famine hit a region.
The total amount of Turkish aid for Somalia thus far has reached $500 million.
The UN has said an estimated 857,000 people inside Somalia are currently “in crisis and emergency conditions”, while almost two million Somalis suffer from food insecurity. Another million are refugees in neighbouring countries.
Source: Anadolu Agency
