Qatar Charity opens dispensary in Mogadishu

Qatar Charity’s (QC) office in Somalia, in co-operation with the Benadir Regional Administration opened a dispensary in Wadjer, an impoverished neighbourhood in Mogadishu and 93,000 needy people are expected to benefit from the health services.

Most residents of the area are poor and suffer from the lack of basic health services, as they are not able to afford the costs of private hospitals, QC said in a statement.The 300sqm dispensary is expected to provide the required health services, mostly children, women and elderly.The opening ceremony was attended by a number of Somali ministers and local figures, including Abdurahman Yarisow, governor and mayor of Mogadishu, who lauded the Qatari donations that contribute to helping the needy.The ceremony was also attended by Osman Mohamed Abdi, deputy minister of ports and marine resources, who noted the importance of the development and relief projects implemented by QC for the benefit of the Somali people.In February, QC’s office in Somalia handed over three ambulances to hospitals in Mogadishu to support the country's health services. The ambulance donation came at a time when many hospitals in Somalia were suffering from a severe shortage in the patient transport services, especially for urgent cases, as many vehicles were not designed to provide first aid, which had maximised the risk to the lives of many patients.In March, QC interacted with the operation of mobile health clinics in Somalia, especially in the southern provinces, which are still ongoing in the field. Medical convoys provide primary health services to the displaced and the poor, especially mothers and children under the age of five. So far, around 27,300 people have benefitted from this project.

At the end of last year, QC’s office in Somalia handed over medicines and medical supplies to the Mogadishu City Hospital as part of the emergency relief project for the victims of the bombing to minimise the serious impact of the accident.As Somalia was facing a worsening humanitarian situation at the beginning of 2017, due to the drought, which caused an increase in the number of displaced persons from 1.1mn to 2.1mn in a few months, QC launched a relief intervention for the displaced in the camps. The number of beneficiaries reached more than 27,975 persons in six provinces of Somalia through the operation of 15 medical convoys.