Government clinics have limited medicines and services

Many Afghans are concerned about the health situation in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, which has deteriorated since the Taliban returned to power.

Some residents in different provinces of Afghanistan said that in the past awareness campaigns were conducted through the media but now besides the absence of awareness campaigns, no preventive activities are being carried out to prevent various diseases, which makes them worried.

Najla, 29, a resident of Kabul’s Shakardara district, was one of the patients who went to the health centre for treatment.

He said he suffered from stomach problems, but due to the doctor’s lack of understanding and the poor quality of the medicines prescribed to him, he had not been cured.

“I cannot go to a private hospital because of lack of money. I have had stomach problems for a year, but every time I come to the clinic, they play tricks on me with useless medicines, and the medicines I take do not help. “Since the Emirates came, our clinic has not been doing well.”

Najara continued his speech as follows:

“Before the Taliban, there were lots of medicines. Whenever we were sick, we would come to the clinic and they would give us good medicines. We would get better within a day, but now when we come, they always make excuses saying there are no medicines, where can we poor people go? We can’t even afford to go to a private clinic, we are dying in pain, but no one cares about us.”

Shakiba, 27, a resident of Kabul, is another customer who visits the health centre closest to her home, but she complains and expresses concern about the lack of medicines and medical services at the government clinic.

He told Radio Azadi:

“We used to hear information about different health schemes, awareness about different diseases, information about the occurrence and prevention of diseases, different cases of the same disease. This information was shared with us and the people through the media or health centres in the villages but unfortunately, now these areas have been removed and reduced, lack of specialist doctors and lack of awareness has led to an increase in the number of patients suffering from various diseases.

People in different provinces of Afghanistan have been complaining about the state of health services, with the World Health Organization announcing a month ago that the country’s 310 health centers were facing serious problems due to lack of funding.

The organization announced in the report that in addition to the $423 million budget for 2024 and 2025, an additional $352 million budget is needed to respond to urgent and severe threats.

Meanwhile, according to a report by the World Health Organization, by 2023, about 428 fixed health centers will be closed due to lack of funds.

Dr Hasib Nusrat, an internal medicine specialist, said it was the health centres’ responsibility to educate people about infectious diseases so they could prevent them.

“Prevention programmes can rely more on awareness programmes as there are many diseases that spread from person to person and also at the community level. In fact, it is these awareness programmes that can go some way to stop the spread and thus eliminate the disease and its chain of transmission. One of the responsibilities of the health centres is to provide information in this regard.”

Mr Nusrat continued:

“It is the government’s obligation to inform people at the community and village level. This awareness can be through radio, social pages or television, making people aware of the dangers of infectious diseases, which can help prevent the spread of diseases”.

Some social activists believe that with the Taliban returning to power in Afghanistan, services at health centers have been reduced and they no longer serve the public as they did in the past, causing concern.

Rowena Ahmadi, one of these activists, said the following in a conversation with Radio Azadi:

“There are concerns about the lack of medicines, health services and public awareness programs at government health centers. People’s problems have increased compared to the past, but the Taliban government should focus on the health sector more than anything else because the Afghan people are economically weak and cannot afford to pay for their own treatment,” he said. “If this problem is not addressed, people’s problems may double in the near future and it will be difficult to resolve.”