Saudi Arabia's King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) has handed over a dialysis center building at Banaadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, to the country's Ministry of Health.
At the Ministry of Health's request, the building will be used as a temporary facility for examining and treating cases of COVID-19.
The assistance is being provided by the government of the Kingdom Saudi Arabia to alleviate the suffering of Somalis during the pandemic.
The handing-over ceremony was attended by a number of officials, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Somalia, Dr. Mohammed bin Abdul Ghani Khayat; the Head of KSrelief's Branch Office in Africa, Saad Muhanna Al Sweed; Representative of the Somali Ministry of Health, Dr. Abdul Razzaq Yusef Jalaluddin; Director of the Arab Affairs Department at Somalia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mustafa Adam Daqal; Director of Banaadir Maternity and Pediatrics Hospital in Mogadishu, Dr. Ferton Sherif Mohamed; Director of the Dialysis Center, Dr. Muhammad Osman Muhammad; Director of KSrelief's Projects in Africa, Ibrahim Abdel Qader, and a number of other officials from the Somali Ministry of Health. Members of the local and international media were also present to mark the event.
After the handover, Saudi Ambassador Khayat told local and international media that the building would be used as a temporary headquarters for examining and treating people with COVID-19, and for quarantining critical health cases. He added that the gesture is in response to the Somali government's request, and is a contribution from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Somali people, and that once the pandemic is over, the dialysis center project would be completed and the facility used for its original purpose.
Somali Ministry of Health Representative Dr. Jalaluddin expressed his thanks and appreciation to the leadership and people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who have never hesitated to extend a helping hand to the Somali people in times of need.
He also thanked KSrelief, adding that the center had implemented many projects in Somalia on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has implemented many relief and development projects in the Federal Republic of Somalia, particularly in the country's education, health and WASH sectors.
