KABUL (SW) – With the increase in the number of patients visiting government clinics in Kabul, these clinics are facing a shortage of medicine, professional staff and other treatment options.
Sima Gul, a resident of Taimani, Kabul, who brought her two-year-old child to Taimani clinic for treatment, complained about the lack of medicine and a professional doctor in this clinic, saying: “My child is coughing and has a fever. I came to this clinic after being seriously ill, there is no medicine here either, they give prescriptions. If we had money, we would go to a private hospital, we would not come here. It is very frustrating.”
Leila, a resident of Nawabad, Kabul, who came to Parwan 3 clinic for treatment, also complained about not having access to treatment options. This lady, who has lost the ability to stand due to her illness, said: “There is no proper medicine here, they give prescriptions from the market. I am very sick. They said there is no medicine, gave me the market prescription, I said I can’t afford to buy it, they gave me another ibuprofen and that’s it. What should I do with this pain relief medicine?
Taimani Clinic and Parvan 3 Clinic provide health services to patients in six departments. Officials in both clinics told Salam Watandar that the number of patients visiting these clinics has increased compared to the period of the Republic, and now more than 70 patients are coming to these clinics for treatment daily.
Fouzia, the head of the tuberculosis department at Taimani Clinic, said that this clinic has not had medicine for patients for two months, and its gynecology and obstetrics department has also been inactive since one month due to the absence of a doctor (midwife). She added: “I am a doctor in the tuberculosis department but due to the absence of a doctor, I work in other departments. We have to, we don’t have a nurse, we don’t have a place, two parts of our clinic are inactive. Every day, married women come but we don’t have midwives.”
Officials at Taimani clinic said that despite the fact that they shared the shortcoming issues of this clinic with the public health directorate of Kabul, but this problem has not been addressed yet.
The directorate of public health of Kabul, while accepting the lack of medicine in the clinics of Kabul city, said that due to the non-purchase of medicine by the Ministry of Health and the cessation of aid from foreign institutions, these clinics are facing a shortage of medicine.
Asim, the deputy directorate of public health in Kabul, told Salam Watandar: “It has been three years since the Ministry of Health has not purchased medicine. The medicine is given to us by the Ministry of Health, and then we distribute it, and at the level of the directorate, we have repeatedly asked for help from foreign institutions, one they helped twice, but the aid is not enough and it does not solve the problem of lack of medicine.”
It is not only patients in Taimani and Parwanse clinics who complain about lack of access to treatment options, but patients in central polyclinic, which is one of the largest government clinics in Kabul, are also facing the same situation.
Mohammad Nabi, a resident of Paktia, who brought his nephew for treatment, complained about the lack of staff and lack of attention to patients in this clinic. “They do not examine the patient properly. I came here because there are no facilities in Paktia, and now we are disappointed here as well, there is no treatment.”
The central polyclinic has 200 health workers and 26 treatment departments, some of which have been established in the last two years. The internal and dental department of this clinic has the most clients and nearly seventy patients visit these two departments daily. However, this clinic is facing shortage of professional personnel and medical equipment in some parts.
However, Dean Mohammad Habibi, head of the central polyclinic, told Salam Watandar that this clinic needs the support of donor institutions to solve its problems. He added: “In the ultrasound department, no one works with little money, or for digital x-ray, we have little equipment and we need to prepare. In the echo department, we need specialists, on the other hand, the salary of our doctors is low but they also work with it.”
According to the head of the central polyclinic, the number of patients’ visits has increased from 300 patients during the republic period to 1,500 patients per day.
According to the statistics of Kabul department of public health, there are 52 clinics operating throughout Kabul, which provide health services to citizens in different sectors.
Afghanistan’s health sector is more dependent on international aid, and therefore, with the cutoff or reduction of international aid in this sector, its problems has increased.
ENDS
