Pneumonia and diarrhoea are two of the major causes of child mortality globally. Countries affected by conflict and other humanitarian emergencies, such as Somalia, have a particularly high burden of these diseases. Published reports from UNICEF and WHO have shown that various factors, including social, economic and environmental factors, are all associated with the occurrence of childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, burden and associated sociodemographic determinants of pneumonia and diarrhoea among children younger than 5 years (under-5 children) in Somalia.

A community-based survey using an interviewer-administered questionnaire was conducted employing a modified WHO Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) 30-Cluster sampling technique to identify households and respondents in nine selected districts across six member states in Somalia. The interviewers began selecting households starting from house number 1 and continued until 75 households were surveyed in each cluster.

We considered the catchment areas of 12 target maternal and child health (MCH) centres as our study areas. Villages were considered as primary sampling units (PSU) while households within villages were considered as secondary sampling units, where women (with under-5 children) within households were the respondents.

A total of 36 clusters (villages) were selected from the catchment areas of 12 target MCH centres. All households within the selected villages’ PSUs were listed. The interviewer started interviewing from house number 1 and continued till 75 households were covered to conduct interviews with mothers of under-5 children. Data collection took place between October and December 2023.

The prevalence and burden of childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea were estimated. A logistic regression model was employed to examine the determinants of childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea.

A total of 2483 under-5 morbidities were reported, 1712 probable pneumonia cases and 825 diarrhoea cases. Our calculations suggest that the prevalence of overall under-5 morbidity was 458.4 per 1000 children (95% CI 444.3 to 472.6) in the last 90 days. The prevalence of pneumonia and diarrhoea was 316.0 (95% CI 303.5 to 328.8) and 152.3 (95% CI 142.2 to 162.8) per 1000 under-5 children, respectively. A total of 70 under-5 deaths occurred in the past year, of which 37 were infants. Our exploration depicts an under-5 mortality rate of 39.3 deaths per 1000 live births per year (95% CI 30.6 to 49.7), and the infant mortality rate was 20.8 per 1000 live births per year (95% CI 14.8 to 28.6) in the study area, which is much lower than earlier estimates. The crude birth rate was 106.6 per 1000 population, and the stillbirth rate was 149.8 per 1000 births (95% CI 134.9 to 165.7), which is very high. We explored probable causes of 70 under-5 deaths and found that the highest proportion of under-5 deaths (22.9%) was due to acute respiratory infections (ARI), and about 15.7% were due to diarrhoea. Among other probable causes, congenital diseases (12.9%), accidents (11.4%) and measles (8.6%) were noteworthy.

This study revealed a high burden of pneumonia and diarrhoea among the studied population in Somalia. The study also identified important sociodemographic and environmental determinants that tend to increase the risk of pneumonia and diarrhoea among under-5 children.

Globally, more than 700 000 people commit suicide annually. In Sweden, the yearly incidence ranges between 1000 and 1500 people, which is higher than the global average. The aim of this study is to estimate the economic burden related to indirect costs that suicide has imposed on Swedish society between 2010 and 2019.

National population-based cross-sectional study.

All suicides in Sweden between 2010 and 2019, using data from the Swedish National Cause of Death Registry.

Indirect costs associated with suicides, estimated using the human capital approach, including productivity loss over 1-year and lifetime horizons.

Between 2010 and 2019, 1406 to 1591 suicides occurred annually in Sweden, resulting in approximately 26 500 productive life years lost each year. In 2019, the productivity loss due to suicides was estimated at 44 million over a 1-year horizon and 935 million over a lifetime horizon. The corresponding per-person costs were 37 000 and 778 000, respectively.

This study provides valuable insights into the economic burden of suicide on Swedish society. It underlines the potential economic benefits of effective suicide prevention, aligning with previous research highlighting the substantial returns—both monetary and in terms of human well-being—that successful prevention strategies can yield.