(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - “There are no resources, no management and no equipment (here),” Doctor Ifftikar, head of the Islamic Relief (IR) for Somalia, told Le Monde, according to a translated version by Worldcrunch news site.
The IR mission is working in the Somali capital along with some 20 Turkish, Qatari and Kuwaiti humanitarian agencies under the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) umbrella to confront the devastation of a severe drought that has left millions of Somalis facing starvation.
More than 12 million people in Somalia and other parts of the Horn of Africa have been caught up in the region's worst drought in decades.
Trying to contain the situation, a group of 21 doctors, experts and professors from several Islamic countries arrived in the Somali capital with 45 tons of medical equipment.
The OIC is also hoping to improve conditions at Mogadishu's largest health facility, Banadir Hospital, through a 5-million-dollar rehabilitation program.
In the hospital, the Muslim doctors are stretched to the limit, working under tremendous pressure and with inadequate equipment.
“Do you know how old the hospital’s X-ray machine is?” asks Ahmed Adam, a Sudanese doctor who came to Mogadishu four months ago to take over the OIC humanitarian action department.
“It’s half a century old.”
“There’s only one water pump in Banadir Hospital. If it breaks down, it will be a disaster,” said Adam.
On Wednesday, the OIC countries pledged $350 million in aid to help Somalia fight famine.
OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said he hoped the aid would soon reach $500 million and urged donors to improve drought-stricken Somalia's long-term food security by helping it rebuild infrastructure and agriculture.
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