Mogadishu – Twelve medical officers attached to the Somali Security Forces (SSF) and various medical facilities in Jubaland State have graduated after successfully completing an eight-month training to improve their skills. It was a collaborative effort between the Africa Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and the Jubaland Federal Member State Ministry of Health.
The medical officers, including two from the Somali National Army and 10 civilians, were trained in various areas including laboratory procedures, general medical knowledge, trauma, combat casualty care, hospital management, nursing, pharmacy, and midwifery.
The graduation ceremony was presided over by the commander of ATMIS forces in Sector Two, Brigadier Jattani Gula and top officials from the Jubaland State Ministry of Health at the Dhobley Level-II hospital.
“The graduating officers both from the Somali security forces and civilian hospitals will contribute to human health and improved medical care in Dhobley and surrounding areas”, said Brig. Jattani Gula.
Brig. Gula commended the Somali Security Forces and the local communities for their collaboration in restoring peace and stability, emphasizing that continued peace and stability was important to boosting the skills of many more professionals in the community.
Dek Ahmed Omar, the Head of Human Resources at the Jubaland Ministry of Health, thanked ATMIS for providing the timely training that would enable the medical officers improve on service delivery at local hospitals within the State.
“The hospital will benefit from the skills gained by the trainees and the first batch of the medics trained here will resolve the burden of referring patients to other health facilities. The training has afforded participants with quality standards,” said Omar.
One of the trainees, Abdirahman Farah Jim’ale, said the training had contributed to medical practitioners improving their approach to treatment procedures and ensuring efficient service delivery to the public.
“I thank the Jubaland Ministry of Health for taking an active role in the coordination and the success of this training. I also thank all the other partners that facilitated this training. Other groups will follow suit and I would like to take this opportunity to urge the Ministry to double its efforts to facilitate more medics to benefit from the training” Jim’ale said.
In a separate event, Brig. Gula also awarded certificates and presented medals to 50 Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) troops working under ATMIS at Dhobley Forward Operating Base (FOB).
The officers are rotating out after completing their tour of duty in Somalia.