Ilmo may not have known exactly what ailment her children had, but their rashes made it clear. When young Nastexo and Salmo developed high fevers, coughs, sore throats, runny noses, and watery eyes, their rashes made it clear.
Ilmo, a resident of a drought-affected area of Baidoa, was aware that her children had the measles since she had recently witnessed numerous instances and had learned to recognize the signs.
When they both were ill with this very contagious illness, Ilmo felt exhausted and helpless because they both need her entire attention.
She took Nastexo and Salmo to a neighboring medical facility on the suggestion of community health workers, where a doctor gave them vitamin A to strengthen their immunity and medication to offer them relief.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting the work of 2163 community health workers who travel to approximately 300,000 households each month throughout Somalia in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services and other partners to look out for sick children in the households whose parents do not go to the health centers to seek medical attention for their sick children due to a variety of reasons.
These community health workers search for unwell kids who might have cholera, malaria, cholera, pneumonia, or even the measles. The WHO has sent them to the areas that are most severely affected.
In addition, they screen youngsters for symptoms of acute malnutrition and seek for other odd health occurrences in the neighborhood using mid-upper arm circumference measuring tapes.
This ordinary search can instantly connect communities to healthcare, saving lives.
Hunger is causing the measles to spread more swiftly.
Children in the Horn of Africa are now weak, malnourished, and prone to illness as a result of the protracted drought, which the WHO has formally classified as a grade three health emergency and the world’s worst calamity.
Of the 6.1 million Americans who lack access to enough food, about 1.7 million are suffering from severe hunger.
More than 250 000 women who are pregnant or nursing, as well as an estimated 1.4 million kids under the age of five, would need nutritional therapy.
Health facilities and community health workers reported 9562 suspected cases of measles from the start of the year till week 21 of 2022 (29 May 2022), 7650 (80%) of whom are under the age of five.
The regions of Puntland, South West State, and Banadir have recorded the most incidences.
“We are going extra miles to reach out every child whose life can be saved and protected by measles and other vaccines.
During the last 4 months of our intensified operation in the ground, over 92 000 children have been vaccinated against childhood vaccines including measles through our outreach services which we have supported and continue to support in the drought-affected districts.
Approximately 19000 of these children were identified by our health workers as “zero dose children”, meaning that they have not received any vaccine in their life span.
Malnutrition, widespread migration, and unvaccinated children will all contribute to the spread of diseases like measles.
We are therefore vaccinating every child in these areas hit by the drought against the measles and other childhood diseases.
We will require US$ 35 million to expand our operations until the end of 2022 in order to maintain our life-saving actions, according to Dr. Mamunur Rahman Malik, WHO Representative in Somalia.
Understanding the advantages of immunization
Ilmo notes that although she never got the chance to give Nastexo and Salmo their childhood vaccinations, she now understands the value of immunizations for kids.
She explains that in order to save her 7-month-old son from getting sick like his brothers, she will take him for standard childhood immunizations.
Millions of Somalis’ livelihoods and health are being negatively impacted by the current drought in Somalia.
Ilmo and her husband work as casual laborers and do not make much money.
They have struggled to find work since the drought started, and lately had to survive on one meal each day because two of their children are ill.
Ilmo’s children were fortunate enough to receive attention, but other kids do not obtain it in a timely manner, and more families experience poverty as a result of attempting to take care of their health requirements.