Bupa supports MSF and Somalia

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Bupa supports MSF and Somalia

A donation of over £20,000 has been made by Bupa International and the brokers of its health insurance to the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in order to assist the ravaged people of Somalia, which has been embroiled in an interminable civil war for years.

Somalia, which forms the perimeter of the Horn of Africa, and has recently become well-known for a growing piracy problem, has no semblance of public health provision and the majority of its 9 million people see even their basic health requirements go unaddressed.

There is a 20% mortality rate for the first five years of life and a 10% mortality rate for women giving birth.

MSF provides some relief for the Somalian people from its centres in Balcad, Karaan and Lido, and has received support of £65,900 from Bupa International since mid-2008.

MSF nurse of 6 years, Sharon Janzen, has welcomed the cash injection, and has expressed how moved she is by the money which will go far in the war-torn state.

Just yesterday Aljazeera.net reported that an anti-government and anti-African Union coalition called Hizbul Islam rejected an offer of ceasefire from the country’s new president.

Recent heavy fighting in Mogadishu left 49 civilians dead, and peace seems as far off as ever.