Hope and Good Health Health in the Qansaxley Camp

Habiba Omar Hassan, originally from the Bakool region in southwestern Somalia, was displaced by conflict and drought. Her family settled in Doolow, near the Ethiopian border, in Qansaxley – a makeshift site for internally displaced persons.  

"When we moved here, there was no hospital in the camp, only one in town," Habiba recalls.

Since the collapse of the Somali central government in 1991, ongoing conflict has weakened the healthcare system, resulting in some of the lowest health indicators globally. With high maternal and under-five mortality rates, low health expenditure, and a critical shortage of health workers, about 3.9 million people in Somalia need health services. In crowded IDP sites like Qansaxley, limited resources are overstretched, leaving many newly arrived households from rural areas with minimal engagement from humanitarian actors and public services. 

Despite international efforts focusing on recovery and durable solutions, the need for immediate life-saving assistance is vast. The International Organization for Migration (IOM), in collaboration with the Federal Government of Somalia and with support from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Aid (BHA), built a hospital in Qansaxley to better meet the healthcare needs of displaced populations and the host community.

"When this hospital was built, we were overjoyed. I personally gave birth to three of my children here," says Habiba. Before the hospital, she suffered complications during a home birth and had to be transferred to the town hospital. "But with the later children, I got medical care from this hospital with no complications."

The Qansaxley Health Centre provides comprehensive primary healthcare services, including clinical consultations, immunizations, antenatal and postnatal care, and labour delivery, serving a community of about 50,000 families. 

"This centre provides all primary healthcare services for patients," says Mohamed Yarow, a medical professional at the centre. 

The centre operates 24 hours a day; salaries, water, electricity, and other essential services were supported by IOM Somalia through the project. Despite some gaps, such as laboratory services, Mohamed emphasizes the centre's indispensable role: "It cannot be shut down or be out of service even for a day." 

IOM's project also focused on capacity building for healthcare workers through on-job and workshop training in communicable disease management, childhood illness management, and emergency obstetric care. Additionally, health and hygiene promotion and education at the community level aim to prevent disease outbreaks and improve maternal-child health outcomes.  

The goal was to enhance service sustainability, reduce dependence on external funding, and strengthen the health system's resilience. When the project ended in June 2024, IOM handed over the Qansaxely Health Centre to the Ministry of Health who is working to identify another partner that can continue the centre's operations. 

Through Habiba's story, we can understand the broader impact of the Qansaxley Health Centre, a beacon of hope for many like her, that provides essential health services and support amid adversity.