Welcome to the Edna Hospital, Hargeisa, Somaliland

The health of the people of Somaliland is among the worst in Africa, with one of the highest Maternal and Infant Mortality rates in the world. Every year, one baby in eight dies in infancy while nearly 4000 Somali women die in childbirth. This tragedy can be attributed in large part to the long civil war which brought about the death or departure of nearly all of the country’s trained health care professionals.

The Mission of the Edna Adan Hospital

Somaliland’s health care system was utterly destroyed by the civil war leaving the country with, among other problems, the highest rate of maternal and infant mortality in the world. It is a goal of the Hospital not only to train fully-qualified health care professionals but also to train and dispatch 1000 midwives throughout the country.

Another very important goal is to fight the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which is endemic throughout this region.

In recognition of these and other achievements, the hospital founder Edna Adan Ismail was in 2010 awarded the French Legion of Honor, a French Knighthood.

For more detailed information, and photos, relating to these topics, please see under Mission in the navigation menu above.