Executive Summary
This is the sixth report from the 2022/2023 Nutrition and Mortality Motioning System project. Between April 3rd and April 20th, 2023, data was collected from 1,410 IDP households in 14 sites/camps in Khada and Daynille in the Afgooye Corridor, Baidoa, Galkayo, and Dollow. Data collection for this round was conducted and funded by the Caafimaad Plus consortium.
Overall, there has been continued progress in the health and nutrition situation within the sentinel sites covered in Round 6, although there are still areas with very high level of acute malnutrition, and the humanitarian response has still not achieved Sphere Standards in key interventions. We also draw attention to an outbreak of measles in Kahda, the deterioration of the nutritional situation in Dollow, and a worrying worsening of drinking water availability in Baidoa.
Of the 1,201 Mothers and Caregivers that were interviewed, 70% belonged to the Digil and Mirifle clan and 64% reported only speaking Maay. A recent report from REACH and Clear Global and has highlighted the ways in which language-based exclusion may impact on IDP populations in Somalia and these NMS data illustrate the size of the population that may be affected.
There have been changes in the water sources reported from different areas, with a general decrease in the utilisation of tankers. Tanker usage fell markedly in Baidoa, where only 35% now report this as the main source of water. The increasing reliance on wells or springs in Baidoa is associated with a worrying situation, with 29% of households now reporting that there is always an inadequate supply of drinking water.
This deteriorating trend deserves urgent attention from agencies in the WASH sector to explore reasons and solutions. In Dinsoor, the adequacy of water supply has also gotten worse, with over 35% reporting that drinking water is always or often inadequate. Open defecation in the field was reported by some households in all areas except Galkayo, and the situation has deteriorated in both Baidoa and Dollow.
The trend in the prevalence or GAM by MUAC indicates that the nutritional situation is, in general, improving, following an uptick in round 5. However, as with other data presented in this report, caution is needed in interpreting the trend due to the smaller number of sites that were included in the round 6 data collection.
Coverage of health record cards has improved but still only half of children possess one.
Measles vaccination coverage has improved and overall coverage is now at 81%, but still short of the 90% threshold at which campaigns would no longer be required. There was a continuing slow fall the in overall two-week period prevalence of suspected measles.
However, a marked increase was reported from Kahda, where the prevalence increased by 11 percentage points. It is recommended that urgent steps are taken to investigate the current status of this suspected outbreak and ensure adequate health care and outreach activities are available.
The period prevalence of Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) increased in most areas, as was expected due to the heavy Gu rains. The increases reported here are consistent with the increase in cholera cases reported by WHO.
In Round 6 we observed a stable Crude Death Rate (CDR) and a slight decrease in the Under-Five Death Rate (U5DR) compared to Round 5. Both CDR and U5DR remain below emergency thresholds.