First Person: Health workers in Afghanistan brave safety fears, to continue treating the sick

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An Afghan doc has told UN News that helium is committed to providing indispensable healthcare services to radical who person fled their homes owed to struggle successful Afghanistan, but information fears mean that his aboriginal and that of his colleagues, peculiarly women wellness workers, is uncertain.

UN agencies have pledged to enactment successful the country, contempt the caller takeover by the Taliban, and to enactment communities which adjacent anterior to caller events were successful urgent request of aid.

Dr Khali Ahmadi* told UN News successful an exclusive interrogation from the Afghan superior Kabul, that helium and different healthcare workers are continuing to enactment contempt the deficiency of information and ongoing instability successful the state and called connected the planetary assemblage to transportation connected supporting Afghanistan.

“Some 8-10,000 radical person arrived successful Kabul from 10 provinces successful caller weeks pursuing the beforehand of the Taliban, and I’m portion of a squad of doctors and nurses who are providing wellness attraction for these caller arrivals. 

These radical fled their homes and present person nothing, nary houses, nary jobs and precise small wealth and mostly they are fearful of surviving successful Kabul and aggravated that they had to permission their homes. We are providing a scope of services to them successful camps for displaced radical successful the city. 

They are arriving with galore antithetic diseases and communal complaints including diarrhoea and pneumonia. Around 3 quarters of the radical we are treating are women and children.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is supporting this enactment and truthful we are capable to supply treatment, medicines and nutrient arsenic good arsenic immoderate screening for COVID-19

Trucks from the UN's World Food Programme permission  Kabul successful  May 2021 to present  nutrient  to susceptible  communities.

© WFP/Arete/Andrew Quilty

Trucks from the UN's World Food Programme permission Kabul successful May 2021 to present nutrient to susceptible communities.

Today [Monday, 23 August] I was portion of a squad of six doctors including 3 women, who person been providing women-specific services and person helped to present a fig of babies. We besides person 5 nurses connected the team. Our workday is precise agelong and hard; I commencement astatine astir 7am and tin sometimes enactment until midnight which means, arsenic a team, we tin dainty up to 500 radical a day.

Sometimes, the information concern means I volition enactment astatine home. If determination are reports of gunfire oregon different disturbances arsenic good arsenic roadblocks, the squad members determine is excessively unsafe to work. It tin beryllium precise tense connected the streets. Sometimes, it is conscionable the men who work.

My pistillate colleagues are, of course, acrophobic astir their future, arsenic we each are. They don’t cognize what the aboriginal holds, whether they volition beryllium allowed to transportation connected moving arsenic they bash now. We don’t cognize whether the concern volition get worse for women, enactment the aforesaid oregon possibly adjacent improve.

A 12-year-old boy, who does not spell  to school, sells bananas successful  Uruzgan Province successful  occidental  Afghanistan.

© UNICEF

A 12-year-old boy, who does not spell to school, sells bananas successful Uruzgan Province successful occidental Afghanistan.

We person not truly interacted successful a meaningful mode with the Taliban since they entered Kabul, though they did travel to the campy erstwhile wherever we were providing services to inquire america what we were doing.
Security is the main interest close present for the displaced people, and besides for different radical successful the city, but we are besides disquieted astir the deficiency of medicines and food, arsenic shops and markets are inactive closed successful Kabul.

I americium a doctor, truthful my occupation is to assistance and heal people. I consciousness profoundly committed to supporting Afghan radical astatine this time, during this atrocious situation, but I tin lone assistance if I consciousness harmless astatine work.

My connection to the remainder of the satellite is delight assistance Afghanistan; this is simply a mediocre country, but the radical present person bully hearts, and I volition proceed to bash my champion to enactment for and support each Afghan people.

Read much here about the wellness services UNDP is supporting for displaced radical successful Kabul.

*Real sanction withheld to support identity
 

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