Somalia calls for Iran's further medical assistance

Somalia's Minister of Health and Human Services Abdiaziz Sheikh Yusuf demanded Tehran to continue medical aid and assistance to his country, underlining that the Somali nation is in dire need of medical and pharmaceutical knowledge. "Somali is grappling with many health and treatment problems and it welcomes Iran's capabilities in this field," the minister told FNA in Mogadishu on Saturday. "Somali is in dire need of doctors and nurses for promoting its health care standards. We can use Iran's medical knowledge which is at a very good level," Sheikh Yusuf noted. He stresses Mogadishu's efforts to reconstruct the country's medical infrastructures, including hospitals, and added, "We demand more help and assistance from Islamic states, Iran in particular, for these reconstruction projects." Earlier this week, Iran provided Somalia with new hospital and surgery equipment as part of its plans for increasing medical assistance to the famine-hit African state. The new medical tools and equipment were handed to the Somali officials during the recent visit to Mogadishu by a team of Iran's Red Crescent Society (IRCS). The equipment included sonogram, oxygen conditioner, recovery bags, surgery and stitching devices, an electrocardiograph, a radiography unit, suction device, an electric shocker, drug shelves and containers, artificial respiration pipes, CPR kits and hospital beds. Iran's move came days after Somali Foreign Minister Mohamed Mohamud Ibrahim demanded Tehran to provide his drought-stricken country with further medical aid and training. The Iranian Red Crescent has so far sent 5 medical teams to Somalia to help the famine-stricken people of the African country. The last team was sent to the African country in mid October. IRCS has recently inaugurated a central clinic in Mogadishu to help the drought and famine-stricken people of the country. It had earlier erected 6 medical camps in Somalia. The Islamic Republic of Iran was among the first countries which rushed to the aid of the Somali people and it has dispatched over 14 aid cargos to the African nation thus far.