Thursday September 4, 2025
Somali and Italian surgeons collaborate in a groundbreaking moment at Kalkaal Hospital in Mogadishu during Somalia’s first-ever open-heart surgeries on two children, Zakaria and Maida.
Mogadishu (HOL) — Most healthcare workers in Mogadishu are familiar with the World Health Organization’s
surgical safety checklist, but only a fraction say they regularly use it, exposing patients to avoidable risks in Somalia’s fragile health system, according to a new study.
The survey of 422 doctors, nurses and anesthesiologists, conducted between April and July 2024, found that 81 percent had good knowledge of the checklist’s procedures, yet just 13.5 percent reported a positive attitude toward using it during operations.
The WHO checklist, introduced globally in 2008, is a 19-step tool designed to reduce surgical errors, strengthen communication among surgical teams, and ensure key safety measures are not overlooked. Nearly 88 percent of Somali respondents agreed it improves patient safety, but many feared it would slow down workflow or delay procedures.
The study, authored by Najib Isse Dirie, Abdullahi Hassan Elmi, Mohamed Mustaf Ahmed, Abdishakor Mohamud Ahmed, Omar Mohamed Olad and Mulki Mukhtar Hassan of SIMAD University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, concluded that the gap between knowledge and actual use leaves patients vulnerable to preventable risks.
Somalia’s hospitals, short of staff and equipment after decades of conflict, have traditionally focused on infectious disease outbreaks and humanitarian crises, leaving surgical safety underdeveloped. The authors noted that this makes standardized protocols like the checklist even more urgent.
Regional experience shows mixed results. Ethiopia recorded strong initial adoption of the checklist before compliance fell without ongoing supervision, while Tanzania improved long-term use through sustained training and tailored approaches. In Mogadishu, where most surveyed professionals were under 30 and had fewer than five years of experience, the researchers recommended mentorship and scenario-based training to build lasting change.
The study added that improving surgical safety in Somalia requires more than awareness campaigns. It called for role-specific training, stronger leadership support and the introduction of digital tools that could make checklist use more practical in Somali hospitals