Dr Hibo Ibrahim Derie is on a mission in Somalia

Dr. Hibo Ibrahim Derie (MBBS) is a Somalian-based Paediatrician who acquired a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 2015 from the University of Hargeisa. In 2020, she specialised in paediatric and child health at Mekelle University in Ethiopia. She was inspired to pursue medicine by her uncle, who is a medical doctor.

 Dr. Hibo completed the NNIA’s postgraduate programme in paediatric nutrition in September 2022 and the paediatric preceptorship programme in May 2023. She took the courses with the aim of broadening her nutritional knowledge and finding ways to eradicate malnutrition caused by a lack of knowledge about weaning time and exclusive breastfeeding in a Somalian context. She has imparted what she learnt about nutrition and its challenges from the programmes to her colleagues and she feels it has broadened their scope of practice. 

Her love for children is what drives her to pursue new techniques and acquire new information so she can further improve their lives. She spends a large part of her practice at a paediatric hospital in Hargeisa teaching mothers about hygiene as well as how to properly feed their babies to ensure growth and good nutrition. 

“The NNIA programmes have been beneficial to my practice and are a positive contributor toward equipping mothers with the knowledge they need to help their babies develop and grow adequately. I recommend that healthcare professionals undertake these programmes to improve their daily practice to better the lives of those in their communities.”