Information on the "Somalia-Finland Tuberculosis Project" in Mogadishu in 1990 [SOM24465.E]

Specific information on the above-mentioned subject could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB. However, in the early 1990s FINNIDA, the Finnish development agency, and the Finnish Red Cross were running Forlani Hospital in the Cabdul Casiis district of Mogadishu (Asante 1991, 28). This hospital specialized in treating tuberculosis and psychiatric patients (ibid.). In addition to the hospital, there were TB outpatient clinics in Mogadishu prior to the civil war, but these had ceased to operate by the time of an Inter-NGO Committee for Somalia (INCS) assessment mission in Mogadishu in early 1991 (ibid., 62). A description of the hospital provided in the INCS assessment report is attached to this Response.

The attached Associated Press report states that the International Red Cross employed a Finnish doctor as part of a "flying surgical team" in Somalia in 1993 (12 Jan. 1993). According to AP, 30 per cent of Somalis had tuberculosis at that time (ibid.). An official at the Canadian Red Cross Society in Ottawa stated in a 30 July 1996 telephone interview that the Red Cross had doctors in Somalia in 1993, but no information was available about their work from the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References


Asante, Kofi et al. 1991. A Report of the Assessment Mission to Mogadishu, Hiran, Bay, Middle Shabelle and Lower Shabelle Regions from February 23rd to March 4th 1991. United Kingdom: Inter-NGO Committee for Somalia (INCS).

The Associated Press (AP). 12 January 1993. AM Cycle. Terry Leonard. "Flying Surgeons in Somalia Fear Work May Go for Naught." (NEXIS)

Canadian Red Cross Society, Ottawa. 30 July 1996. Telephone interview with official.

Attachments

Asante, Kofi et al. 1991. A Report of the Assessment Mission to Mogadishu, Hiran, Bay, Middle Shabelle and Lower Shabelle Regions from February 23rd to March 4th 1991. United Kingdom: Inter-NGO Committee for Somalia (INCS), pp. 28, 62.

The Associated Press (AP). 12 January 1993. AM Cycle. Terry Leonard. "Flying Surgeons in Somalia Fear Work May Go for Naught." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

The Somali Conflict: Prospects for Peace. 1993. Oxfam.

Foreign diplomatic representatives in Canada.

Note on contacting foreign diplomatic representatives in Canada:

Embassies and high commissions are not usually called for security-related questions such as location of military bases or the functioning of secret services. Ability to obtain information from diplomatic representatives depends on availability of information and cooperation from individual countries.