Qatar Charity lays foundation stone for health centre in Somalia

By:GULFTIMES

Qatar Charity (QC), with the support of benefactors in Qatar, has laid the foundation stone for a health centre in Hamar Weyne district of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The foundation stone-laying ceremony was attended by the governor of Banaadir region and mayor of Mogadishu, Omar Mahmoud Mohamed Filish, deputy mayor of Mogadishu and head of Social Affairs Basma Amir Sheketi, the director of Health at the Banadir Regional Administration, Mohamed Mahamud Adow, and Hamar Weyne district commissioner Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir, in addition to many local officials and dignitaries.

The 400-sqm centre will have a reproductive health department, an emergency department, doctors’ rooms, a laboratory, a vaccination room, a pharmacy and administrative offices. The centre is expected to provide health services for nearly 20,000 people in the district and surrounding areas, QC has said in a statement.

Filish thanked the people of Qatar for their continuous support, and QC for its humanitarian and development efforts aimed at helping the needy and improving social services for the benefit of the Somali people. He also noted that Qatar Charity has been a strategic partner of Banaadir since it started working in Somalia.

The governor said the health centre aims to alleviate the suffering of the poor and needy, improve health services and achieve development in areas that lack basic services.
In 2019, QC signed a co-operation and partnership agreement with the Somali Ministry of Health and Human Services to ensure the effective participation of Qatar Charity in health projects in accordance with the sectoral strategy and the ministry’s priorities.

The co-operation between the ministry and QC includes building and repairing health centres and hospitals, providing them with necessary medical equipment and ambulances, distributing medicines to them, and training medical staff in Somalia.
Hamar Weyne district’s health centre, which is under construction, is an extension of the previous efforts made by Qatar Charity in building and running health centres. More than 12 health centres have been completed over the past years in various Somali regions and cities.