International reporting
Afghanistan's health system undermined
Audio 02:32
The Afghan health system is on the verge of collapse and only works with the help of humanitarian organizations.
Here in the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, December 8, 2021. © Petros Giannakouris / AP
By: Sonia Ghezali Follow
4 mins
The “Afghan-Japan” hospital in Kabul has not received any funds for several weeks.
Employees work on a voluntary basis in the establishment specializing in infectious diseases and in the fight against Covid-19.
The situation of this public health institution in Afghanistan is indicative of the challenges of the health sector in Afghanistan.
A health system weakened by 40 years of war and which depends almost entirely on international donors.
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With the international sanctions that have weighed on the country since the Taliban took power almost a year ago, the health system is suffering more than ever from a lack of resources and reduced healthcare coverage.
Some health facilities have closed, many medical workers have resigned or left the country, leaving fewer workers trying to respond to emergencies.
The Afghan-Japanese Hospital in Kabul specializes in communicable diseases.
Equipped with advanced machines, it has become the reference in the care of patients with Covid-19.
The 20 beds in the intensive care unit are all occupied by men and women of all ages.
Dr. Noorali Nazarzai is in charge: “
These patients are in very critical condition, their lungs are 90-95% deteriorated.
All the oxygen given to them is through respirators.
If it weren't for these machines, we would have lost most of these patients
.
»
This doctor does not know if he will receive his salary at the end of the month, because the hospital coffers are empty.
“
The six-month contract we had with the World Health Organization ended on July 14
, as explained by director Tariq Ahmad Akbari.
This contract was not renewed.
It plunges us into a state of panic and it stresses all our medical staff.
»
International aid finances almost 100% of the country's public hospitals.
But coordination and communication between the Taliban regime and international aid managers are sometimes complicated, and have direct repercussions on the health system.
“
We have been living with these tensions for a year, with the feeling that anything can happen,
continues Tariq Ahmad Akbari.
Maybe staff will be laid off, or our salaries will be lowered
.
»
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Without funding from the international community, the Afghan health system would collapse.
Many villages do not have access to a medical center.
Afghan Red Crescent mobile clinics are deployed in several provinces.
We follow Dr. Sultan Mohammad on his tour of Shadkhana village in Kabul province.
The consultations take place on the first floor of a shop under construction, dozens of women in burqas are seated on the floor on plastic mats.
A woman: “
I have pain in my eye.
»
Doctor: “
Is it red?
»
Woman: "
No, it's just bloated.
»
Doctor: “
Can I see your eye?
»
Woman:
“
No.
»
Dr. Sultan Mohammad explains, “
I'm not allowed to see his face according to local tradition, so I can't see his eye.
In the hospital we can examine the women, but not here.
I can only give her medication based on the symptoms she describes to me.
Next to them, a male nurse treats a 10-year-old child with a leg injury: “
A dog bit me three days ago.
He was not attached.
He threw himself on me and bit me.
»
The mobile clinic spends three days every two months in the village: “
Most people can't afford to go to the hospital because it's so far,
” continues Dr. Sultan Mohammad.
If our team didn't come here, then they would resort to certain traditional remedies which can be dangerous.
»
That day, 300 patients will be examined free of charge in Shadkhana by Afghan Red Crescent doctors.
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Afghanistan
Health and medicine
Economic crisis