KABUL (SW) – Officials from the Ministry of Public Health (MPH) have reported that during one month, a significant number of individuals, exceeding more than one million, sought medical attention in hospitals due to respiratory diseases.
Sharafat Zaman Amarkhel, the spokesperson for the MPH, attributes the rise in respiratory illnesses to the ongoing drought and insufficient rainfall, leading to adverse health effects among citizens compared to the previous year. Despite the increased hospital visits, Amarkhel notes a decrease in mortality rates associated with respiratory diseases during this period.
“In the first month of the year, more than one million and 80 thousands people have visited hospitals due to respiratory diseases. The congestion of patients in hospitals has increased and the number of deaths has decreased,” Amarkhel said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently released a report saying that in the first month of the year, 383 people died due to respiratory diseases in Afghanistan.
Shila, who has taken her child to the Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital for the treatment, says: “There are 3-4 sick children in each bed. More facilities must be provided for patients and the capacity of this hospital should be increased.”
The health experts consider severe cold, improper food and neglect of health issues as the main factors in the spread of respiratory diseases among citizens.
Aref Hasanzai, a doctor at the Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital, says: “Families should vaccinate their children, give them breast milk, and after six months give them complementary food, and cover their children with warm clothes and change the weather of the room they stay in.”
Based on the information of the Ministry of Public Health, last year about eight million respiratory patients were registered in the Afghanistan, most of them were children under five years old.
