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Afghanistan: UN Health Agency
Afghanistan: UN Health Agency Calls for Stepped-up Access to Those in Need
New York, Aug 18 2010 10:10AM On the eve of
“We, the health community, are helping
people where we can reach them, which also means that if we
can’t reach the people, we can’t help them,” said
Peter Graaf, Representative of the World Health Organization
(WHO) in Afghanistan. “Despite challenges of
widespread insecurity, health workers have taken an oath on
the holy Koran and risk their own lives to provide health
care to every man, woman and child in Afghanistan.”
At the outset of a crisis, access to and restoration of
health services is vital to prevent avoidable deaths and
illnesses. WHO said the first few days and weeks after a
disaster hits are most critical in preventing the outbreak
of diseases, typically triggered by the collapse of the
local water supply and polluted water sources.
Afghanistan is home to one of the world’s most dire
humanitarian crises, with infants, children under the age of
five and mothers more at risk of dying than almost anywhere
else in the world. WHO said there is a clear link
between the intensification of the conflict in the country
and the worsening health situation, with limited
accessibility to basic health care – especially for women
and children – leading to a rise in easily preventable
diseases. This is also hindering efforts to eradicate polio
and holds qualified staff, especially women, back from
working in more remote and rural parts of Afghanistan.
At present, more than 6 million people in Afghanistan –
mostly women – need relief assistance for healthcare
services. Some two thirds of these people, comprising 15 per
cent of the country’s total population, do not even have
access to basic health services. In a related
development, WHO has donated $20,000 worth of ventilators,
suction machines and other emergency equipment to the
intensive care unit of one of Afghanistan’s largest
hospitals. Hundreds of people visit the Mirwais Hospital
in Kandahar daily, according to Qayom Pokhla, Director of
the city’s Ministry of Public Health. “Every day
there is a security incident, either in Kandahar or in other
parts of the region, and after receiving the equipment, we
will be able to reach our requirements more efficiently than
before,” he said. The hospital is supported by the
non-governmental organization (NGO) International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) and is the only medical centre in
southern Afghanistan where complicated surgeries can be
performed.
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