ReliefWeb

SITUATION OVERVIEW

As severe drought conditions continue, the overall nutrition situation has continued to deteriorate, especially in northern and central parts of the country. The 2017 Post Gu Seasonal Food Security and Nutrition Assessment conducted across Somalia indicate that the acutely food insecure population has declined from 3.2 million people to 3.1 million people. However, levels of acute malnutrition have increased across Somalia where 10 districts have been recorded with a prevalence of acute malnutrition of 15% and above. Similarly, high prevalence of GAM was recorded among rural livelihoods in regions in the northeast. Overall, some 388,000 acutely malnourished children are in need of critical nutrition support, including life-saving treatment for more than 87,000 severely malnourished children. Although, drought conditions have worsened in the past few months, with the start of the October to December Deyr rainy season, the country is expecting to receive rainfall.

Malnutrition, cholera and measles remain a significant additional disease burden leading to morbidity and mortality in the country. Although the cholera outbreak which started in November appears to be coming to an end, the measles outbreak has reached 17,233 cases since January with over 4522 cases (26%) in Banadir alone. This is nearly three times the entire 2016 caseload. More than 80 per cent of those affected by the current outbreak are children under age 10. The health sector has projected some 5.5 million people are in need of emergency health services across Somalia. (Somalia: Drought Response Situation Report No. 16).