WHO EMRO – A long journey to care: a mother’s search for help for her son
Bilal with his mother at the stabilization centre, Kismayo General Hospital. Photo credit: Dr Aweis/WHO Somalia19 August 2026, Mogadishu, Somalia – When Sahra Ali Mohamed’s 2-year-old son Bilal Jeylani Ali became seriously ill, Sahra knew she had no option but to undertake the journey from Yaaqle village in Jilib District to Kismayo, the capital of Somalia’s Lower Juba region.
The family travelled more than 120 km south-west to Kismayo, where Bilal, suffering from severe acute malnutrition with medical complications, received specialized treatment and care at the stabilization centre of Kismayo General Hospital, one of 65 WHO-supported stabilization centres in Somalia. For Sahra, reaching the hospital was an act of determination. For her son, it was the beginning of his journey to recovery.
After eight days of inpatient treatment, Bilal’s condition had improved significantly. He had entered the recovery phase and was preparing to leave the hospital.
“I was desperate when my son became so sick. I was afraid I would lose him, and I did not know where else to turn. I travelled more than 120 km to find help. Now that he is getting better, all I want is to take him home safely,” said Sahra.
For families living far from essential services, the journey does not end when treatment does. Sahra still faced the challenge of getting her son home. The cost of transportation back to their village was about US$ 35 – more than the family could afford.
Sahra’s experience illustrates the reality faced by many families across Somalia. Distance, poverty, insecurity and lack of transport constitute a major barrier between vulnerable people and the health care they need. A major challenge at the stabilization centre is the lack of transportation assistance for caregivers returning home after their children have completed treatment and been discharged.
Some children arrive in a severely deteriorated condition, their chances of recovery affected by the long distances they have had to travel in insecure conditions because of the lack of health facilities closer to their communities.
Access to stabilization centres remains a major challenge, with some families travelling for days to reach specialized care. Rising transportation and fuel costs have increased the financial burden, making the journey increasingly unaffordable for many households.
Reaching people where the need is greatest
Bilal receives care at the stabilization centre. Photo credit: Dr Aweis/WHO SomaliaAcross Somalia, communities face multiple humanitarian pressures, including conflict and droughts, displacement, food insecurity and climate-related shocks. The ongoing drought is deepening vulnerabilities in many communities, affecting access to food, water, livelihoods and essential health services. Children, particularly those living in remote and hard-to-reach areas, are among those most at risk.
For families already struggling to meet their basic needs, drought increases the risk of malnutrition and illness and makes it even more difficult to reach health facilities. Long distances, insecurity and rising transportation costs turn the journey to lifesaving care into a sometimes insurmountable financial and logistical barrier.
WHO, working with the Federal Ministry of Health, state health authorities and humanitarian partners, continues to bring essential health and nutrition services closer to vulnerable communities. This includes supplying stabilization centres with essential medicines and severe acute malnutrition kits, strengthening health workers’ capacity to manage complicated cases, supporting community outreach and referrals and helping sustain essential health services in drought- and emergency-affected areas.
In 2026, to support the treatment of 27 102 children admitted to stabilization centres between January and July, WHO distributed paediatric severe acute malnutrition kits to WHO-supported stabilization centres nationwide and provided on-the-job training and mentoring to 145 health care workers across Baidoa, Galkayo, Dhuusamareeb, Kismayo, Banadir and Somaliland.
The support is helping strengthen the management of severe acute malnutrition, maintain essential services and improve access to quality care for children affected by drought and other humanitarian emergencies.
Together with the Federal Ministry of Health, state health authorities and partners, WHO is also strengthening community outreach, referrals, nutrition surveillance and frontline health services, helping ensure that children in vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities can access care when they need it most.
“Severe acute malnutrition accompanied by illness can quickly become life-threatening. Our priority is to ensure that children receive the specialized care they need, while strengthening the services and systems that allow vulnerable families to access that care,” said Aden Mohamed Nur, WHO Somalia Nutrition Officer.
From emergency response to stronger health services
Across Somalia, WHO works with government and partners to keep essential health services running in communities affected by emergencies. This includes strengthening disease surveillance and outbreak response, supporting immunization and polio eradication, providing essential medicines and medical supplies, strengthening emergency preparedness and response, and supporting maternal, newborn and child health services.
WHO Somalia and hospital teams at the stabilization centre, Kismayo General Hospital. Photo credit: Dr Aweis/WHO Somalia
WHO is also helping build the capacity of health workers so they can respond effectively to emergencies and continue providing quality care.
For displaced populations and communities living in hard-to-reach areas, WHO and partners work to reduce barriers to essential health services. The goal is not only to respond when emergencies occur, but to help communities and health systems maintain essential services before, during and after crises.
For communities repeatedly affected by drought, displacement, conflict and disease outbreaks, continuity is critical.
When getting care means a long journey
For Sahra and her son Bilal, reaching the hospital was only part of the journey.
Humanitarian health care does not end at the hospital door. For families in remote and hard-to-reach communities, reaching treatment, completing care and making the journey home can be just as challenging.
For Bilal, it meant a chance to recover. For Sahra, it meant hope that her son could return home healthy.
Bilal’s story is a reminder that effective humanitarian action must go beyond treating illness. It must also address the barriers that prevent vulnerable families from accessing care – by connecting communities, health workers, health facilities and humanitarian partners.
This World Humanitarian Day, their story reminds us that humanitarian action means keeping essential health services within reach, supporting health workers and strengthening systems so that people are not left behind because of where they live or the challenges they face.
For families across Somalia, it is about ensuring that essential health care is within reach when it is most needed.
For more information, please contact:
Khadar Hared, Communication Officer, WHO Somalia,
Tel: +252619800011
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