At least 2 million people in Puntland, Somalia are projected to benefit from a development project by the German government set at $25.85 million. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to aid the government of Puntland in association with other partners like UNICEF.
In Puntland, the health of women and children is a major concern as most people do not have access to healthcare services including child immunization; nutrition; maternal, reproductive, and neonatal health; malaria; first-aid and care of critically ill and injured; treatment of common illnesses and HIV.
The project is in two parts. One will support the continued delivery of the UNICEF-supported Essential Provision of Health Service (EPHS) package which is the prime mechanism to strengthen child health and safe motherhood services.
The other phase includes increasing the number of facilities and communities. It will involve developing critical health infrastructure to expand specialized and emergency referral services with a feasibility study already underway. It will include the construction and rehabilitation of five district hospitals, an emergency ward, 20 health care centers and two regional health management offices. The services are being delivered through 43 health centres (21 in Mudug and 22 in Nugal) run by implementing partners under the Puntland Health Ministry.
