When Mohamed Ma’ow rushed his one-year-old son Maka’il to Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, he still held onto hope. The boy had already spent 20 days in the hospital’s stabilization program, receiving therapeutic food for severe malnutrition. But within days of being discharged, Maka’il relapsed and this time, he didn’t survive.

“My son was first diagnosed with malnutrition at Banadir Hospital, where we took him for a stabilization program,” Ma’ow recalled. “He stayed there for 20 days, eating therapeutic food. He was ultimately released from the stabilization ward, but within days, he relapsed, and his situation became critical, ultimately resulting in his unfortunate death today.”