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KABUL (SW): In conversation with Salam Watandar, a number of patients and visitors have complained about poor state of affairs at the Jamhoriat Hospital in Kabul.
It was revealed that some staff members at the hospital ‘steal’ the patients’ medicines, and later sell it back to them. The complainants also lamented lack of separate toilets for female, poor state of sanitation and presence of mosquitos and other insects at the premises of this major public hospital.
Nargis, a female patient at the hospital, said the hospital is littered with mosquitos and other insects that cause further health complications for the patients and visitors. Fawzia, another patient, charged that the doctors ‘steal’ the patients’ drugs, and there are literally no wheelchairs for the needy patients at the orthopedic ward.
Saleem Rasuli, interim director at the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), acknowledged that there are some problems at the public hospitals including the Jamhoriat Hospital. He, however, discarded allegations about doctors involved in stealing and selling medicine. He said the level of underground water has dropped in the city that has led to the abundance of some insects in different hospitals, but the issue has been resolved at Children Hospital, Rabia Balkhi Hospital and Malalay Hospital, and it is yet to be resolved at the Jamhoriat Hospital. The MoPH director promised to develop separate waiting rooms and separate toilets at this public hospital for male and female visitors.
This comes as the Integrity Watch Afghanistan last week charged the MoPH for failing to provide quality health services to patients in various parts of the country despite heavy investment in the sector.
ENDS
