KABUL (SW) – A number of women in the flood-affected provinces say that they do not have access to health services after the floods in the past month.
These women reported that the floods and the distance of medical centers from their place of residence have caused them to not have access to any health facilities.
In this report, 17 women were interviewed, five women in Herat, five women in Takhar, four women in Badakhshan and three women in Nangarhar. Among these, two women said that after the floods, limited health services were provided to them by the de-facto government or relief organizations, but 15 others said that they did not receive any help.
Out of the 17 women interviewed in this report, 10 of them were pregnant. They say that the floods, in addition to causing irreparable financial losses, have also put them in a bad health condition. Five other women and girls say that following the floods, they do not have access to any basic healthcare items during their menstruationmenstruation.
Khaleda from Badakhshan, who has five children, says that she was six months pregnant when the flood hit, but losing her shelter due to the flood and being far from medical centers caused her to lose her fetus.
She adds: “I was very scared; I also went to the clinic; I bled I also lost my child. There are many problems at home. My husband is also unemployed. All the responsibilities are on me to take medicine. I lost my child in the hospital. There is nothing from the hospital as long as it is not an intermediary, as we do not have money ourselves. We have nothing left.”
Fariba from Adreskan district of Herat, who is pregnant, says that the flooding has put her in a state of fear and anxiety, and now she is afraid that her fetus will be harmed. She adds that before the flood, she felt the movement of her fetus, but now her fetus is not moving and due to the lack of a health center and doctor in Adreskan district, she has not examined her fetus yet.
She adds: “I was shocked when I heard that the flood was coming, I almost fell to the ground. I had a child, my situation was very bad. For several nights, I didn’t sleep, I was awake and thought that now may the flood come again. I don’t sleep during the day and at night either, my baby used to move, now it doesn’t move either. The clinic is not close to us. For now, the doctor is nowhere.”
A number of pregnant women in Takhar say that they are in a bad state of health after the flood in Namakab district of the province. They add that they endure intense pain before childbirth, but so far no health assistance has been provided to them.
35-year-old Gulshah, a pregnant woman in Takhar’s Namakab district, says: “I am eight months pregnant. I faced many problems; my whole body still hurts and I almost lost my baby. The flood took everything from us. We have not been helped, nor is there any clinic near us. We have many problems.”
22-year-old Ferishta, another pregnant woman in Takhar’s Namakab district, also says: “I was very scared after the flood. My whole mind and thoughts are distracted. I feel like it is coming; I don’t sleep day and night; I am very afraid of losing the child in my womb because it is a kind of premature pain. There is no clinic near us. No proper help has been given to pregnant women.”
In addition to this, a number of women and girls who were menstruating when the flood descended in their areas, say that by losing all the facilities of their lives in the floods, they now do not have access to basic health facilities such as sanitary pads.
Halima from Warduj district, Badakhshan, a girl who complains about not having access to sanitary facilities, says: “Because I was in menstruating myself, I had severe stomachache, my clothes were all wet; I had no clothes to wear. In the village where we live, there is no clinic or hospital where we can get medicine; I did not sleep until the morning; I cried a lot, but no one come to help.”
Gulnaz from Nangarhar, another girl who complains about not having access to health facilities during her period, says: “During the floods, I had no access to health services at all and I had many problems. During menstruation, girls need sanitary equipment, which did not exist at that time.”
Meanwhile, a number of doctors say that women’s lack of access to health services, especially mothers during pregnancy, causes them to suffer from physical disability, and mental illnesses.
Sunita Bahram, obstetrician gynaecologist, says: “When pregnant women do not have a more favorable environment and proper treatment, it causes the child and mother to not grow properly. The mother faces weakness and get mentally unstable, and finally it causes the child to be born stressed, and the floods confuse the girls more, and special health services in the form of basic services should be provided for them.”
In addition to that, a number of women’s rights activists who have gone to flood-affected areas to help women, have stated that women’s access to health services in villages and remote areas is very limited, and they ask the de-facto government and relief organizations to improve the access of women and girls to provide basic health services.
Humaira Farhangyar, a women’s rights activist, says: “I have not seen a single health center in the villages or a place that provides health information to the people. There were many women and girls. Of course, it is one of their basic needs, especially for women who are pregnant or young girls who are menstruating, they should be helped. There were minor aids.”
Parwiz Ahmad Faizi, the spokesman of the Red Cross in Afghanistan, says this year, this organization has provided financial and health aid to flood victims in different provinces with its partner, the Afghan Red Crescent Society.
He adds: “Since February of this year, we have provided financial aid to our partner, the Afghan Red Crescent, for the victims of recent heavy snowfalls and floods across the country. This support enabled them to address the immediate needs of affected communities. We donated essential health items to provincial hospitals in Kunduz, Baghlan and Ghor to increase their capacity to provide emergency services to people affected by the recent floods.”
Meanwhile, Mudaser Hamraz, the spokesperson of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, says that this office has provided health services to 18 thousand men and women in the flooded provinces after the floods receded.
He adds: “There were many casualties in Baghlan province and people faced many problems in the health sector. The Afghan Red Crescent Society has provided medical assistance to 18,000 people by sending medical teams, including men and women, and cooperated with it in the provinces of Sar-e Pol, Baghlan, Faryab, Balkh, Nimroz and other affected provinces.
These women have complained about not having access to basic health services at a time when the World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly described the situation of access to health services in flood-affected areas of Afghanistan as deplorable.
