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Nearly 40 Hospitalized, as Watery-Diarrhea Outbreaks in Somali Capital

By Shafi'i Mohyaddin Abokar

At least 37 Somali children under the age of five have been admitted to the Banadir hospital in Mogadishu for the past 24 hours, because of acute watery-diarrhea outbreak, doctors revealed here on Sunday.

Doctor Mohamed Isse Abdi of the Mother and infant care Banadir hospital told reporters in Mogadishu Sunday that children continue to be brought to the hospital which received 37 children infected with watery-diarrhea since early Saturday.

He said that because of the very hot atmosphere and children drinking much unclean water, the disease is overwhelming, spreading in more areas, particularly in the outskirts of the capital Mogadishu, where more than 1.5 million displaced people live.

"No organization assists the hospital which is now running out of medicine, so we are calling on International health agencies like WHO, MSF or Somali business communities to help the hospital" Doctor Mohamed Isse Abdi stated during his Sunday's press conference.

"The hospital is holding more than its capacity and ailing children are being brought here minute by minute and without emergency medical assistance I am afraid that more deaths will occur in less than 12 hours from now" the Doctor warned.

Most of the international aid agencies which were very active in Somalia have been banned from operating in the country by Al shabab militants who accuse the agencies of being involved in intelligence, spreading Christianity or crippling the country's economy.

The banned aid organizations include: The United Nations development program, the United Nations world food agency, the United Nations safety and security department, the UN mine action, the United Nations political office for Somalia, International medical Corps, the Care International and many others.

With Islamists banning the international aid organizations from operating in Somalia, the UN says more than 3.5 million people, nearly half of the country's total inhabitants are in need of emergency life-saving food assistance. Those include about 1.5 million people who fled from their homes in the restive capital alone.

Shafi'i Mohyaddin Abokar is the NewsBlaze Somalia reporter. Contact him through NewsBlaze.