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Background: National Bridging Workshops (NBW) are a tool for reviewing collaboration gaps between line ministries relevant to the One Health framework. Methods: The NBW for Somalia was held on November 11–13, 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya with support from WHO and WOAH. Participants included representatives from the Somali government both national and sub-national (including Ministry of Health; Ministry of Livestock, Forestry and Range; Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation; and Ministry of Environment and Climate Change). Other participants included representatives from non-governmental organizations, academia and the quadripartite. Structured sessions guided participants through a step-by-step process, starting from identifying gaps to collectively developing solutions. The design of these sessions aimed to foster active engagement and collaboration with the outcomes of each session contributing to the subsequent one. Results: A total of 60 participants partook in the exercise, representing human health (35%), animal health (27%), agriculture (13%), environmental health (7%) and other relevant sectors (18%). Eighty-three percent of participants represented the national level and 17% the sub-national level. The collaborative effort yielded a joint roadmap comprising 36 activities and 11 objectives. Priority objectives included: development of national joint surveillance systems for selected One Health threats (41/47 votes, or 87% of the total votes); establishment of a high-level ministerial system to govern and coordinate One Health activities (30/47; 64%); and establishment of emergency funding structures for priority zoonotic diseases along with development of a 5-year national investment plan for One Health (27/47; 57%). A total of 94% of activities required low or moderate cost to be implemented, and 90% of activities were identified to have a likely high impact on multisectoral collaboration. The timeline for implementing the activities is projected to span one to two years. Conclusion: The workshop promoted high-level engagement, national ownership, and leadership in addressing health threats at the human-animal-environment interface. The resulting co-created roadmap will be integrated into the National Action Plan for Health Security, supporting ongoing One Health efforts in Somalia.

The goal of this study was to examine the lived experiences and perceptions of female drug offenders in a community programme, with an emphasis on the role of the family in their desistance. Female drug offenders (N = 11) undergoing a community sentence were tasked with capturing photographs representative of their recovery. Participants were interviewed on the meanings of these photographs, with symbolic themes subsequently elicited from these interviews. Findings illustrated that participants were more likely to rely on their families for support as compared to other factors. Implications of the findings in relation to desistance and social relationships are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in prewar Somalia was surveyed by testing the tuberculin sensitivity of 2,792 infants and children and 446 mothers in two towns: Burao in the dry north and Kismayo in the humid south. Sensitivity increased with age, but considerable differences prevailed between the towns. In Burao a roughly linear increase in sensitivity was found, with no sensitivity in infancy, sensitivity in 19% of children at 7 years, and sensitivity in 54% of children at 15 years; in Kismayo the corresponding figures were 9%, 28%, and 47%, respectively. Together, the correlation of prior BCG vaccination with a positive tuberculin test in Burao and the lack of these findings in Kismayo suggested that vaccination had partly failed in Kismayo, where living conditions also favored the transmission of M. tuberculosis. The annual risk of M. tuberculosis infection was ∼1% higher in the south than in the north and was much higher during the first 3 years of life than later. This study—the first defining the risk of M. tuberculosis infection among children of various ages in Somalia—indicates that this risk is greatest in the southern parts of the country and among infants and young children. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]