LASHKARGAH (SW) – Helmand residents in remote corners of the province say they are faced with an acute shortage of healthcare services.
Residents of various districts say that they are facing many problems due to the lack of health services, and their patients cannot be treated on time.
According to them, there are no health services in the remote areas, and due to the remoteness and poor condition of the roads, patients whose health conditions are critical die before reaching the hospital.
A number of residents of Washir, Garmsir and Musa Qala districts of Helmand say that they are facing various health problems due to the lack of health services in these districts.
They call the lack of health services in these districts and the damage of the roads as serious problems, and they say that this is why four patients from the villagers lost their lives in the winter of last year.
The residents of these districts ask the authorities to pay serious attention to the development of health services in Helmand.
“In the last month of winter, four patients died and four people were killed in the road,” Naz Meer, a resident of “Passavu” area of Washir district, told Salam Watandar.
Another resident, Nematullah, said: “If this problem can be solved, and the sick in our district and village can be diagnosed or treated, this is the right thing for us.”
At the same time, the residents of Musa Qala district of Helmand complain about the high cost of treatment in private hospitals in addition to their health problems.
They want the de-facto government officials to provide quality health services in this district and regulate the private health centers as well. Zia Al-Haq, a local resident said: “We don’t have a clinic in the district, here we are spending a lot of money on transport, the rent is high, we have to wait here for five nights.”
At the same time, Sayed Ahmad Saeed, Head of Public Health in Helmand, confirms the health problems of the residents in the districts of this province and assured of the efforts to solve them.
He said that considering the population of Helmand, there are few health centers in this province, but some active health centers need to expand their services.
“Some health centers should upgrade and be active 24 hours while some of the health centers should be improved in size, and the number of inpatients in the provincial hospital should be increased. Our area coverage will improve when our health centers reach 288,” he said.
According to the information of Helmand Department of Public Health, currently 232 health centers are operating in the center and districts of this province, which have more than 12 thousand visitors in 24 hours.
