BIG NEWS! Following an extensive evaluation of Somaliland’s medical schools by a team
from Kings College UK and Makerere University in Uganda, the Edna Adan University was
recognized as third among the four Somaliland universities qualified to train medical doctors.
The EA University opened its doors on the grounds of the Edna Adan Hospital in 2011 and
in less than a decade has joined Amoud, Hargeisa and Burao Universities as the leading
medical schools in Somaliland. The School expects to graduate its first M.D.s in 2023.
Meanwhile, the Edna University has trained 1024 students with Bachelor Degrees from its
Schools of Nursing, Midwifery, Laboratory Science, Pharmacy, Public Health, Dentistry, and
Veterinary Health, with a further 2122 students achieving Diplomas in these professions.
- With support from the Somaliland Ministry of Education and the Norwegian government, the
Edna University’s Public Health faculty and students helped launch the second phase of a
School Health Intervention Pilot Program in Hargeisa, collecting data on the health and
nutritional status of some 4335 public school students and providing essential medical, dental
and eye care to children where necessary. The aim is to lay the foundation for a National
School Health Program for Somaliland. - The Edna Adan Hospital of course continues its pioneering work as a maternity and training
hospital. The hospital has delivered more than 26.000 babies since it opened in 2002; its
training programs have graduated over 587 nurses and 1000 community midwives; and its
surgical team (including two Somali women physicians) now regularly performs fistula and
hyrdocephalus operations for women and babies referred from throughout the region. - Thanks to your support, the Friends in 2019 assisted the Edna Hospital to
✓ Purchase 2 portable ultrasounds for fetal monitoring
✓ Make renovations to the patients wards and sanitary facilities
✓ Make improvements to the hospital exterior (after which, unfortunately, the recent heavy
rains caused some new damage to areas of the roof)
✓ Provide upgrades to the solar power installation and plumbing at the hospital - As Friends’ donations continue to support improvements to the Hospital plant and to build
the long-term Endowment Fund, gifts from other sources are helping Edna to meet additional
critical needs. Earlier this month Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times announced that
the Edna Hospital has been awarded a Holiday Impact Prize to purchase a compressor to fill
oxygen cylinders and set up a program to train staff in the histopathology department for
breast and cervical cancer tissue screening. And Partners for Global Health will be shipping
a container with essential consumables (sheets and dressings, surgical equipment, anesthesia
and catheter kits, etc.) by the end of the year. - Finally, what the Friends have long known of Edna’s remarkable story will now be shared
with an even larger audience. In August, Edna’s memoirs, A Woman of Firsts, was published
by Harper Collins UK, and it is already a best-seller. As we might expect, Edna intends to
donate her portion of the book sales to her favorite hospital!
We warmly thank our Friends supporters for their foundational role in what has become a global
effort to sustain the work of the Edna Hospital today and into the future. On behalf of Edna, her
staff, and all those patients who have benefitted from the Hospital’s care over the years, the
Board of Directors and I wish you the best for the holiday season and the New Year.
Gratefully,
Dr. Lee V. Cassanelli
President of the Board, Friends of Edna’s Maternity Hospital
