Jowhar 10 July 2023 – Doctors from the Burundi contingent serving with the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) have provided free medical care to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Towfik in Jowhar town.
Speaking during the medical exercise, held last week, Maj. (Dr.) Severin Irambona, the Sector 5 Medical Officer, said ATMIS was committed to supporting vulnerable people in its Area of Responsibility who have challenges in accessing quality healthcare.
“We receive an average of around 80 to 100 patients per week,” he said. “Today, we are attending to civilians coming from an IDP camp called Towfik. Every week we attend to them on Tuesday and Thursday.”
The IDPs were forced to abandon their homes in various parts of Hirshabelle state due to the prolonged drought that has left hundreds of residents without livelihoods.
“We always welcome Somali civilians who come to our hospital for medical treatment. We received patients with infectious diseases and skin complications, the majority of whom are women and children,” said Dr. Irambona.
“We are supporting them through our civil-military cooperation programme”, he added.
He urged donors to provide more support to ATMIS to enable the Mission hold more medical screening camps to benefit communities adding that the region was experiencing a shortage of medicines.
Abdi Yakub Osman, one of the residents from the camp who benefitted from the exercise expressed gratitude to ATMIS and the Burundi contingent.
“Today, I came here to seek treatment from ATMIS, thanks be to God, I accessed the camp and was attended to. I pray for quick recovery and I am grateful to ATMIS for their timely and continuous support,” said Yakub.
