Saturday November 8, 2025
Mogadishu (HOL) — Somalia’s Minister of Health and Social
Welfare, Dr. Ali Haji Adam, on Friday appointed Abdirisaaq Sharif Ali as the
new Director General of Banadir Maternity and Child Hospital, following a
widely condemned incident in which a woman gave birth at the hospital’s
entrance after being denied emergency care.
The minister said the leadership change was part of urgent
reforms aimed at restoring public confidence and improving the quality of
maternal and child health services.
“It is necessary to make immediate management changes to
strengthen the delivery of health services for Somali mothers and children,”
Dr. Ali said in a statement.
He thanked the outgoing director for her service and
contributions to the hospital’s management, noting that the decision was part
of a broader government plan to reform and modernize Somalia’s public health
institutions.
The Ministry of Health also announced that several staff
members who were on duty the night of the incident have been suspended pending
an independent investigation. Additional administrative adjustments are
expected across the hospital to ensure accountability and transparency.
Dr. Ali instructed the newly appointed director to “fulfill
his duties with responsibility, transparency, and compassion,” emphasizing that
Somali mothers and children deserve “prompt, quality, and humane care.”
The leadership shake-up comes days after the government
launched a formal investigation into the October 26 incident, which sparked
national outrage. Witnesses said the mother was turned away from the hospital
despite being in labor, and later gave birth at the main gate with the help of
an elderly passerby. Both the woman and her newborn were reported to be in
critical condition.
The case has ignited a public outcry and renewed calls for
systemic reform within Somalia’s overstretched healthcare system, long plagued
by mismanagement and resource shortages.