A quarter of Somali children die before 5

NAIROBI – 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 yesterday.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said health conditions in the Horn of Africa nation, which has been without central government since 1991, had deteriorated to atrocious levels. The majority of Somali children die from malnutrition and waterborne diseases like diarrhoea, 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 organisations 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.- Nampa-ReutersThe majority of Somali children die from malnutrition and waterborne diseases like diarrhoea, 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 organisations 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.- Nampa-Reuters