Focus Area 1: Young child survival and development
Case study 3: Somalia Child Health Days The challenge The tragic reality of Somalia is that one child in seven dies before the age of five. UNICEF and WHO are partnering with local authorities to protect children under five from preventable diseases and water-borne illnesses through Child Health Days (CHD) – a programme designed to reduce malnutrition and safeguard women against neonatal tetanus in child delivery. Services offered include immunization against measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, and polio, as well as Vitamin A supplements, oral rehydration to treat diarrhoea, water purification tablets, and screening to refer malnourished children to emergency feeding programmes.
UNICEF’s role In an environment where the public health structure cannot supply sufficient services, the Child Health Days approach offers broad national coverage by reaching out to the displaced and to rural communities; by working closely and continuously with central ministries and regional- and district-level authorities to build local institutional capacity; and by building a more permanent structure to deliver services in a more decentralized fashion. In 2009, UNICEF collaborated with WHO, local authorities, and NGOs to launch a nationwide initiative to periodically reach every child in every community in Somalia to protect them from preventable diseases and water-borne illnesses, and to reduce malnutrition. UNICEF supports CHD programmes in over 50 countries, and by 2008 more than four out of five children globally (82 per cent) were immunized. UNICEF’s role includes reaching out to political and religious figures, teachers, women’s groups, parents, and community-based organizations – all
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of whom are actively supporting the implementation of Child Health Days activities in various ways. UNICEF also promotes the initiative through radio and loudspeaker messages, and provides the enormous quantity of vaccines and other supplies necessary for the campaign. The logistical task in Somalia was enormous, with more than 1,800 vaccinators, 200 social mobilizers, and 1,200 vehicles involved in the central and southern parts of the country. The first round began in the urban and rural northwest, with 800 field teams setting up immunization posts in community areas, schools, health centres, and around mosques. With the support of some 50 local and international partner organizations, some 5,000 trained health workers and countless mobile teams mounted on donkeys and camels reached out to remote mountainous areas that vehicles could not access. As a result, child immunization rates across Somalia are now estimated at 60-80 per cent.