(CTC) Programme came to Farhia's home just in time. The outreach worker measured the Middle Upper Arm. Circumference (MU
Integration of Immunization and Nutrition Services for Mothers and Children in Somalia Yaqshid District, Mogadishu - October 2012 Farhia was two years old when she contracted measles, resulting in permanent blindness to her left eye. That was nineteen years ago in 1993, not long after the collapse of the Somali Government. Farhia, being from a pastoralist family from the rural region of Middle Shabelle, and born in an environment of anarchy, had no access to healthcare services. Farhia (21) is now a mother of three children and in search of a better life for her family from the one she has experienced over the last twenty-one years. In Somalia, there are many obstacles to a better life for her family. Farhia and her husband, Hussein, came to Yaqshid District in Mogadishu City when they were forced to flee from their village ten months ago. Hussein was falsely accused of espionage by an opposition militia controlling the area. In Middle Shabelle, despite insecurity, Hussein and Farhia were able to sustain their family with their income from livestock, but when they fled to Mogadishu they had to search for a new livelihood. Internally displaced people (IDP) from surrounding regions come in the tens of thousands to Mogadishu in search of humanitarian aid and livelihoods opportunities. Hussein was better off than many because his family helped him to sell his goats, and he used the money to buy a donkey cart and became a porter. When Farhia was asked how her family survives, she humbly responded, “The livelihood of my family depends on what my husband earns from his donkey cart. In fact, it is enough for us because we are not a large family.” However, disease and malnutrition remain a threat to a better life for their family. Farhia’s youngest child and only daughter, Ruqiya, recently became sick. Farhia explained, “I was worried that my daughter had measles, because of what happened to my eye.”
The OTP is offered at SAACID’s health and nutrition clinic in the district, which is part of a citywide network of seventeen clinics, supporting by Oxfam, UNICEF and WFP.
The clinics not only treat SAM, but also offer Supplementary Feeding Programmes (SFP) for moderately acutely malnourished (MAM) children, Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) counselling and nutrition supplementation for mothers, hygiene promotion activities, and immunization services. The clinics are open daily and all services are free. At the clinic Farhia was relieved to have her only daughter immunized from measles, and receive vaccinations against other killer diseases of children including, polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, and tetanus. In addition, since attending the clinic weekly, Ruqiya has received antibiotics to fight common illnesses, de-worming medicine, and vitamin A. Meanwhile, Ruqiya continues receiving special therapeutic food to recover from severe malnutrition, and will remain a patient at the clinic for a minimum of four months.
Farhia explained how an outreach worker from SAACID’s Community-Based Therapeutic Care (CTC) Programme came to Farhia’s home just in time. The outreach worker measured the Middle Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) of Farhia’s three children, in order to determine their nutrition status. Ruqiya’s MUAC was only 10.9 centimetres, which is classified as Severe Acute malnutrition (SAM) in children 6-59 months. The outreach worker referred Ruqiya for admission at a nearby Outpatient Therapeutic Programme (OTP) in Yaqshid District for free treatment. The CTC Programme is supported by Oxfam, UNICEF and WFP. For more information about CTC in Mogadishu and other SAACID programmes and human interest stories, visit www.saacid.org or contact us at
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