About Us
At the iSHA initiative, we aim to empower the global Somali community to make better-informed decisions about their health. We envision the iSHA initiative to become a source of trustworthy health information, bringing together and bridging Somali academics and healthcare professionals with the wider Somali community.
Our Story
Time and time again we hear that certain ethnic groups within the BAME community are at higher risk for developing certain conditions and diseases. At the iSHA initiative, we believe that each ethnic group deserves the right to investigate, analyse and understand these issues that are unique to them. In order to implement this, we currently run three programmes: an educational programme, a research programme and an advocacy programme.
Advocating for the Somali Community
There are 108,000 Somali people in the UK, but barely any research into our health risks.
Our Mission
Education
“Disseminating Informative Health Content on Social Media Platforms, and Holding Outreach Events.”
Within our education programme, we run different projects to tackle separate areas of health awareness including health education and improved science awareness which we have defined as crucial aspects of improving health literacy. Our educational programme consists of engaging videos, articles, webinars and interviews. We are also launching a series of hybrid (in-person and online) outreach events to provide a platform for Somali academics and healthcare professionals to reach their community. You can register your interest as an attendee or speaker via the contact us page.
Research
“Producing high-quality research on health literacy within the Somali Community”
We want to understand some of the Somali community’s barriers to accessing health information. As of September 2022, a quick search on PubMed, a search tool for scientific literature surrounding biomedical and life sciences, shows 3,802 results about “Somali” “Somalia” and “Somaliland” as opposed to 34,211 results for “Ethiopia” or “Ethiopian”, or 82,503 results for “Pakistani” or “Pakistan”. The substantial absence of research regarding the Somali community is one of the motivators behind our research programme.
Advocacy
“Providing a space for the Somali community to share their story with us.”
As part of the advocacy programme, we plan to not only advocate for the Somali diaspora who are facing any injustice within their national healthcare system, but also for Somali healthcare professionals who face problems back in the homeland when it comes to providing adequate services to their patients. The iSHA initiative aims to create a safe space for Somali people around the world to share their stories with us, with the vision of having their concerns, views and wishes heard. By doing so, we want to increase awareness of the medical/health struggles our community faces on an international level.
Our Team
Zainab
President & Co-Founder
Researcher in Paediatric Allergy
Alina
Co-Founder & Director
Background in Neuroscience
Ahmed
Medical Journalist
Background in Public Health
Abdirauf
Content Creator
Medicine & Surgery Student
Bushra
Researcher in Cardiac Genomics
Research & Outreach Coordinator
Nasra
Research & Outreach Coordinator
Physician Associate Studies