Quarter of Somali children die by 5

[OLOL]

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 08:32:58 8AugGMT

MSF: Quarter of Somali children die by 5

 

 

Reuters

NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) -- More than one in 10 Somali children die at birth and a quarter of those who survive will perish before their fifth birthday in one of the world's worst child mortality rates, a medical charity said Monday.

 

 

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said health conditions in the Horn of Africa nation, which has been without a central government since 1991, had deteriorated to atrocious levels.

 

The majority of Somali children die from malnutrition and waterborne diseases like diarrhea, plus inaccessibility to healthcare due to dilapidated infrastructure and insecurity, said the head of MSF in Somalia, Colin Mcllreavy.

 

"This is one of the worst rates in the world," he told Reuters of figures published in an MSF statement on Somalia.

 

MSF also warned that violence was continuing unabated in Somalia, where warlords have been in charge since the 1991 toppling of former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

 

A 14th attempt to re-establish government is under way, but the new administration of President Abdullahi Yusuf has yet to gain control of the nation of 10 million people.

 

"Medecins Sans Frontieres wishes to sound the alarm about the continuing violence in the country. The suffering of the Somali people has received little attention from aid organizations and the international community," the group said.

 

Traumatic injuries in particular are on the rise, mostly gunshot wounds, MSF said.

 

"The frightening fact is that Somalia is officially not even at war," Mcllreavy said. "Extreme violence has become a part of daily existence and the effect on the population is catastrophic."

 

In the north of Mudug, a region buffeted by clan fighting of late, MSF said in the first six months of this year it treated 397 patients for injuries related to violence.

 

Most -- 224 -- were from gunshots, while 135 were knife-related and a further 38 from physical assault. Many victims were women and children.

 

"The already huge number of violence-related injuries we treat are just the tip of the iceberg," MSF said.

 

It said it was frequently forced to temporarily halt medical activities due to violence or threats to its staff and patients.

 

Hundreds of thousands of Somalis have died from famine, disease and violence in the last 14 years.

 

Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[Haddad]

Mr. OLOL, seriously, what can we in the diaspora do about those horror and sad stories from Somalia? Donate what we can to individuals like the little girl whose story you have posted here? How many can we help? I don't think many. And the problem is still there. The problem will still keep coming. The problem has to be solved at the root level. Can we? I doubt. Because simply, we are far from organized at a basic level. And I think it has to do with our background, our cultural & clanish upbringings. I think we have to learn how other Muslims who live in the diaspora are organized and emulate them. Just because Muslims who have successful organizations or organizational skills are of Pakistani or Ghanian origins doesn't mean we can't emulate their successes. A departure from the old ways of thinking and action is in order.

[Castro]

^^^ Haddad, so you officially quit the one line brigade?

 

Having less kids than they do now is the only solution. If you have 2-3 kids, you'll have an infinitely better chance of them surviving. If you have 10 when you can only feed 3, then you've got a big L on your forehead. And don't tell me god will take care of the kids and has their rizq in his hand. That may well be the case but 25% of those kids would disagree with you. Let's cut the boolshidh and tell this like it is.