Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s health system faces the possible shutdown of nearly 600 facilities after a sharp decline in funding, Health and Social Care Minister Dr. Ali Haji Adan told lawmakers Tuesday.
Addressing Parliament’s Social Services Development Committee in Mogadishu, Ali Haji said the facilities rely heavily on external assistance and that the steep reduction in support had put the continuity of healthcare at risk.
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“We sought funding for the 600 facilities facing closure and managed to secure the resources needed to keep them operating through December,” Ali Haji said.
The minister said Somalia’s health sector has depended on donor funding for years, in part because a large share of the government’s domestic revenue goes toward security.
“The drop in funding has severely impacted the health sector,” he said.
Ali Haji said the ministry was pursuing longer-term financing arrangements for the threatened facilities so communities would not lose access to essential care.
The funding shortfall comes as Somalia continues to face extensive health needs, including significant gaps in maternal and child healthcare and limited access to services in communities far from major urban centres.
Despite the financial strain, the minister pointed to improvements in the country’s health system in recent years.
He said vaccination coverage had increased from roughly 40% when he assumed office to more than 70%. Access to basic health services, he added, had risen from 42% to above 65%.
Ali Haji also reported a decline in maternal mortality, from 692 to 563 deaths per 100,000 births, while acknowledging that the rate remained well above the government’s target.
The ministry intends to recruit hundreds of midwives nationwide, he said, with the aim of extending maternal and child health services to districts and villages where adequate care is still unavailable.
Ali Haji made the comments during a session with the Social Services Committee of Somalia’s Federal Parliament, which questioned him on the ministry’s performance, funding pressures and plans to strengthen healthcare delivery.
