Amid uncertainty, hospitals are still full in Afghanistan

Since the end of the fighting in Afghanistan, MSF activities are continuing in all its five project locations: Herat, Kandahar, Khost, Kunduz and Lashkar Gah. Now that people are able to move easily in the provinces, MSF has seen a subsequent increase in patient numbers, particularly Herat and Lashkar Gah. Health structures are under great pressure with staff and equipment shortages. 

The situation in Lashkar Gah is now calm, but there remains some anxiety and uncertainty, and people who delayed getting medical help while there was active fighting are now coming to the MSF-supported Boost provincial hospital. As a result, over the past few days, the emergency room has been full, with many people suffering from respiratory and gastrointestinal problems, and trauma-related injuries as a result of the fighting and also road traffic accidents. Between 15 and 21 August, over 3,600 patients received consultations in the emergency room and 415 were admitted to hospital. 

In Khost, MSF runs a maternity hospital and supports eight comprehensive health centres in rural areas. Between 15 and 22 August, the hospital admitted 402 pregnant women and delivered 338 newborns. Thirty-three babies were treated in the hospital’s neonatal ward.