Amid overwhelming fuel price rises, Somalis struggle to reach healthcare

NAIROBI/MOGADISHU — 27 March 2026 - Fuel prices across Somalia have surged sharply in the wake of the escalation of conflict in Middle East, driving up transport and food costs, and making it more expensive, longer, or challenging for people to seek lifesaving healthcare. In a country already hit by drought and multiple health challenges, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns these rising costs could have a devastating impact on access to basic healthcare for millions of people and urges non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the international community to step up their response in the country.

Fuel is also becoming scarce, or unavailable, in some areas, making it harder for patients to reach hospitals and for hospitals to keep running. For example, MSF has spent 20 percent more on fuel – needed to keep hospital services functioning – so far in March, compared to February.

MSF facilities in Baidoa and Mudug are among the few functional providers of free healthcare. Our teams are seeing children arrive in critical condition after journeys of hundreds of kilometres, as patients are often travelling long distances to seek care. With fuel prices soaring, these journeys are becoming unaffordable for many families, and transport costs are already a growing barrier to reaching hospitals.

"We delayed coming because we could not afford the transport,” said Halima Omar, 33, a patient at MSF's Mudug Regional Hospital. She travelled 12 hours with her 45-day-old son Muscab to get to the hospital.

"It has become much more expensive than before, and many people are now forced to walk long distances just to reach healthcare.”

In Baidoa, MSF has noted a 25 % rise in the local price of fuel, from US$ 1.20 to $ 1.50 per litre. Water trucking costs have risen 40 % within the city, from $50 to $70 US trip. In Mudug, fuel has increased by 33 %, from $0.75 to $1.00 per litre, and local transport costs have risen by 50 %. Electricity price increases are expected in both locations as bills catch up with the market. For the communities our teams serve, and for the smaller facilities and local health workers with no institutional budget to absorb the shock, the impact is expected to be far worse—particularly as rising fuel prices push up the cost of transporting medical supplies and other essential items, making it more expensive to deliver care.

“Fuel is becoming scarce and unaffordable, and the people who pay the price are our patients; mothers who cannot reach the maternity ward, children who never make it to the feeding centre,” says Dr. Elshafie Mohammed, MSF Country Representative in Somalia.

The disruption goes beyond fuel. Somalia imports almost all of its critical medical and humanitarian supplies, and many organisations regional warehouses are located in the Middle East. Sustained disruption to shipping and air corridors could delay the supply of life-saving medicines, food to treat malnutrition, and equipment by months.

Somalia was already in dire condition before fuel prices reached their highest level in years. More than 6.5 million people, nearly one in three Somalis, face acute food insecurity. Over 1.84 million children under five are at risk of acute malnutrition.1

In 2025, MSF teams in Baidoa recorded a 42 per cent surge in admissions for severe acute malnutrition compared to 2024; in Mudug, admissions rose nearly 60 per cent in the same period.

Somalia imports roughly 90 per cent of its food, and prices for staples were already rising before the latest crisis. With global shipping disruptions pushing costs higher, families are also struggling to afford both food and the transport needed to reach healthcare.

The fuel shock compounds a health system already on the verge of collapse. Since early 2025, more than 200 health and nutrition facilities have closed across Somalia due to a sharp cut in humanitarian funding.

“Somalia's communities cannot afford for the humanitarian response to slow down at this moment.” says Dr. Mohammed. “Every organisation working here must step up, and the international community must ensure that the resources are in place to keep that response running.”

“Without collective action now, people will lose access to the healthcare they desperately need and have nowhere else to turn to." he concludes.