Nairobi, Kenya/Los Angeles, CA, November 23, 2007 - International Medical Corps will provide basic health care and nutritional support to thousands of desperate, displaced Somalis who have been stranded in appalling conditions in Afgoye. Since October, International Medical Corps (IMC) has been operating three mobile clinics, providing health care to thousands of already displaced Somalis in and around the town. Just 20 miles from the capital Mogadishu, Afgoye has become the location of Somalia's fastest growing settlements for people fleeing heavy fighting in the capital. Approximately 200,000 are now living in dire conditions, many under trees and in make-shift huts without access to safe drinking water and in urgent need of health care and food. All along the road connecting Mogadishu and Afgoye, small groups are settling in the open, cut off from any assistance.

"The demand for health care, nutrition, and sanitation support is overwhelming and outstrips our current response. We are glad that we are able to assist many of the displaced, but we need to scale up our response to reach out to more people," says Dr. Patrick Mweki, IMC Country Director for Somalia. IMC is poised to scale up existing services and to initiate nutrition interventions, water and sanitation services, and the distribution of non-food items in the area, in coordination with local NGOs and the international humanitarian community.

International Medical Corps teams have found that there are no latrines for the majority of the displaced, increasing the risk of a cholera outbreak. Children, in particular, suffer from acute watery diarrhea, malaria, malnutrition, and respiratory tract infections. IMC is the only international NGO providing mobile health assistance in Afgoye, but the health needs of the rapidly growing community far outstrip the current capacities. Most of those arriving in Afgoye already have experienced displacement two or more times. Amina Omar's husband was killed when their camp in Mogadishu was destroyed by mortars and missiles. The young widow fled to Afgoye with her eight month old son and Asha, her four year old daughter, who contracted pneumonia on the road. After seeing the health workers at one of IMC's mobile clinics, the girl is currently stable. "I am not intending to go back to Mogadishu," says Amina, "and even if I do, I do not know where to start. Here in Afgoye life is hard but we can at least survive."

A staggering one million people are currently displaced inside Somalia. The UNHCR says that sixty percent of Mogadishu's population, or about 600,000 people, have left the lawless capital since fighting intensified beginning in February 2007. Nearly 200,000 have been displaced over the last two weeks alone. The UN has discovered high rates of malnutrition among displaced Somalis. According to the results of a nutrition assessment conducted by the Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU) in Lower Shabelle region in November 2007, 45,000 children under five are acutely malnourished, and 8,500 are severely malnourished. Without special care and nutritional support these children are at a high risk of dying.

Tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in their homes without access to food or water, and humanitarian workers are unable to safely bring supplies into Mogadishu. Reacting to the appalling conditions, John Holmes, United Nations Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, has asked armed groups to refrain from indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks affecting civilians, who risk being caught in the fighting if they leave their homes.

Since its inception in 1984, International Medical Corps' mission has been clear: Relieve the suffering of those affected by war, natural disaster and disease, by delivering vital health care services that focus on training. Passing on essential skills that help people help themselves is critical if those hit by tragedy are to return to self-reliance. IMC has received a four-star rating for four consecutive years by Charity Navigator, America's premier independent charity evaluator.