Somaliland’s Minister of Health Tackles Childhood Mortality
Hargeisa (SDN)-Somaliland’s Minister of Health Hussein Mahamud hosted a conference today at the Mansur Hotel in Hargeisa.
The conference brought together regional stakeholders in child health including representatives from UNICEF. The minister highlighted the burden of disease among children in the nation citing the high rates of child malnutrition which often leads to childhood mortality. He also discussed the benefits of breastfeeding children in light of recent droughts and the upcoming dry season when milk from livestock maybe difficult to find.
He stated that one of the ways to improve child nutrition is to change or influence the attitudes of parents which contribute to poor nutrition. Some of these issues include imbalanced diets that do not include major food groups such as protein and are reliant on carbohydrates such as rice, pasta and bread. This conference is the first step in developing a child health strategy in Somaliland according to the Minister who is trying to tackle the nation’s high child mortality rate.
SDN-Hargeisa