PUL-I-KHUMRI (SW): Provincial Directorate of Public Health (DoPH) in Baghlan has treated at least 23 thousand mentally ill patients recently.
Dr. Mohibullah Habib, provincial public health director, said this while addressing a conference on the “International Health Day” on Tuesday in Pul-i-Khumri. He said these patients were treated under the supervision of 14 physiologists and other specialists. “The public hospitals treated 1 million and 6 hundred patients out of which 3 thousand patients were admitted, 3613 surgeries were conducted, 1576 patients were treated for tuberculosis (TB), 746 military and civilian were treated in the emergency ward while 1333 victims of traffic accident were treated”, added Dr. Habib.
According to the provincial public health directorate, in the last Lunar year, the DoPH also dispatched teams of health experts for nomads, and health centers were established in Deh Salah, Khost-o-Fring and Tala-wa-Barfak districts of the province.
Speaking on the occasion, Khadija Yaqin, the head for the directorate of women’s affairs, urged officials to expand their services, especially for the patients of mental disorder in the remote areas and villages of the province so that mentally ill women can also benefit from such services.
Although, the exact number of patients with mental disorders and depression are not known, but reports from the World Health Organization show that more than 2 million Afghans suffer from these illnesses. The report mentioned poverty, insecurity, unemployment, violence, sexual harassment and drug abuse as the main causes for major mental disorders and depression in Afghanistan.
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