My journey from civil war to global health, via AuthorAID

Somalia's wars, droughts and famines are well known, but less attention is paid to how these problems undermine the nation's mental health. Aside from the damage wrought to bodies and property, many Somalian minds bear scars from a two-decade civil war that ended in 1991, and continuing economic uncertainty. This situation has been exacerbated by the disruption of healthcare services, with hospitals destroyed and doctors fleeing for safer countries. Physician Dr Djibril I. Moussa Handulen describes how AuthorAID has helped him overcome multiple challenges to publish 15 papers over the course of two years, in some of the world's most widely-read medical journals and, in turn, to influence mental-health improvements in the country.