GALKAYO, SOMALIA (HRNW) — Médecins Sans Frontières has warned that children in Somalia’s Mudug region are reaching hospitals later and in more serious condition as community healthcare and nutrition services close because of severe funding shortages.
MSF said its 28-bed inpatient malnutrition ward at Mudug Regional Hospital in Galkayo has been operating beyond capacity since April, with more than 1,300 children admitted during the first half of 2026.
Between January and July, MSF admitted 1,389 children for inpatient treatment of acute malnutrition and related medical complications. Of those children, 809 were severely malnourished.
Outpatient admissions have also increased sharply. MSF reported 1,322 children received outpatient malnutrition treatment between May and July, compared with 788 during the same period in 2025.
The organization said many families first seek treatment at health facilities closer to home but eventually travel long distances because medicines, therapeutic milk or other essential supplies are unavailable.
MSF reported that children arriving at the hospital are often suffering not only from malnutrition but also from diseases such as pneumonia, measles and diphtheria.
The humanitarian organization said the problem is being worsened by the closure of more than 70 health facilities in Puntland and inadequate funding for Somalia’s wider humanitarian response.
According to MSF, Somalia’s 2026 humanitarian response plan had been reduced to US$852 million and was less than one-third funded by July.
MSF is calling on donors, UN agencies and health authorities to restore and expand nutrition treatment at community and primary-healthcare level across Mudug.
The organization stressed that hospital wards cannot replace functioning local health systems and that early treatment close to children’s homes can prevent severe malnutrition from developing into life-threatening illness.
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Disclaimer
This article is based on information and assessments published by Médecins Sans Frontières. HRNW attributes health, nutrition and funding figures to MSF and does not independently verify all medical or humanitarian assessments.
