Diphtheria cases and deaths have surged in Somalia this year as vaccine supplies dwindle and foreign funding falls, Somali health officials said on Tuesday.
The National Institute of Health has logged more than 1,600 infections and 87 deaths so far in 2025, up from 838 cases and 56 deaths in all of 2024, said its director-general, Hussein Abdukar Muhidin.
Diphtheria is a vaccine-preventable bacterial illness that can cause swollen glands, breathing difficulties and fever, and primarily affects children. Immunisation rates have improved over the past decade, but hundreds of thousands of Somali children remain under-vaccinated.
One displaced mother, Deka Mohamed Ali, said all four of her unvaccinated children fell ill after fleeing fighting in the central town of Ceeldheere three months ago. Her 9-year-old recovered; her 8-year-old son died, and two toddlers are being treated in Mogadishu. “I didn’t know it was diphtheria,” she said, speaking from her 3-year-old’s bedside.
Health Minister Ali Haji Adam said a global shortage has constrained Somalia’s vaccine purchases, while U.S. aid reductions have hampered distribution. Before President Donald Trump cut most foreign assistance earlier this year, the United States was Somalia’s top humanitarian donor and the country’s health budget was largely donor-funded, he said.
“The U.S. aid cut terribly affected the health funds it used to provide to Somalia,” Adam said, citing the closure of health centres and mobile vaccination teams that once reached remote areas. Muhidin echoed reports of clinic shutdowns.
U.S. government data show overall American foreign assistance commitments to Somalia at $149 million for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, down from $765 million the previous year. “The United States continues to provide lifesaving foreign assistance in Somalia,” a State Department spokesperson said, urging other nations to increase contributions.
Save the Children said last month that hundreds of clinic closures tied to foreign funding cuts have contributed to a doubling of combined cases of diphtheria, measles, whooping cough, cholera and severe respiratory infections since mid-April. Beyond the U.S., Britain, France, Germany and other major Western donors have also pared back aid budgets.
Somalia’s government has faced criticism for limited domestic health spending; Amnesty International said it allocated 4.8% of the 2024 budget to health, down from 8.5% a year earlier. The health ministry did not respond to that criticism but said it plans a vaccination drive; no start date was given.