Source: Member // Medair - Switzerland
Drought and hunger are fuelling mass migration in this troubled region, increasing the risk that HIV will begin to spread in impoverished Somali communities.
"Currently the rate of HIV infection in Somaliland is estimated at one percent," said Dr. Adele Cowper, Medair Health Project Manager in Somaliland. "This is not at crisis levels, but we have seen all over the world that when there is a high pattern of migration, HIV increases."
At present Somaliland is ill-equipped to deal with the threat of HIV. Anti-retroviral drugs are in short supply.
Health facilities struggle to handle the region's chronically high levels of illness, particularly among women and children, while the drought's impact has stretched these facilities to the breaking point.
In Somaliland, Medair's health and nutrition team focuses on treating and preventing major causes of illness such as malaria, diarrhoea, respiratory infections, malnutrition, and problems associated with pregnancy and childbirth. However, given the risks of HIV spreading as migration levels increase, Medair is also supporting education programmes that will help people protect themselves from the spread of HIV.
Partnering for Prevention
Medair is collaborating with COOPI (Cooperazione Internazionale), an Italian NGO which specialises in HIV programmes and works closely with the Somaliland Ministry of Health to provide testing and anti-retroviral drugs at the hospital in Burao.
We are training health volunteers and midwives in the skills and knowledge they need to prevent the spread of HIV and to care for HIV-infected mothers and children. In turn, these trained caregivers educate their communities about how to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Midwives receive specific training in counselling and care practises for HIV-positive women and their families during and after pregnancy. "This is not just about providing drugs, it is a whole package of care," said Dr. Cowper.
Our four-point approach to combating the spread of HIV includes: stressing the need to remain abstinent or faithful to a partner; promoting counselling and HIV testing; advising people who test positive to take advantage of available services and take anti-retroviral drugs, if available; and educating HIV-positive mothers about how to care for their children and themselves.
"Because of the nature of health care in Somaliland, the majority of children born with HIV will die in the first year of their lives," said Dr. Cowper. "But with some simple interventions, we can halve the risk of an HIV-positive mother passing on the virus to her child. Preventative messaging is already saving lives."
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Medair's work in Somaliland is supported by Swiss Solidarity, the Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection of the European Commission, Word and Deed, Help a Child, EO-Metterdaad, the Department for International Development (U.K.), UNICEF, and private donations from Medair supporters.
Millions are facing severe food shortages in the Horn of Africa following years of drought. Medair is responding to the emergency in Somaliland, adding to the programmes we have been running since 2008 to offer additional life-saving health, nutrition, and WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) services. In September 2011, we began an emergency response in the eastern Sool and Sanaag regions.
Read more about Medair's work in Somalia/Somaliland.
Medair staff passed an HIV course designed by COOPI and then began conducting training with the community.
Somaliland declared itself independent from Somalia in 1991. Its independence has not been recognised by the international community.
This web update was produced with resources gathered by Medair field and headquarters staff. The views expressed herein are those solely of Medair and should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official opinion of any other organisation.
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