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We need at least two years to build capacity of public hospitals in a bid to prevent Afghans from traveling abroad for treatment, says minister
AT News Report
KABUL: Emergency wards of nine public hospitals have been reconstructed which provide required facilities for treatment of emergency patients, said officials.
Among the reconstructed wards, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) on Wednesday inaugurated the emergency ward of 250-bed Ibn Sina Emergency Hospital.
“The ministry reconstructed the emergency wards of nine hospitals in Kabul. People were not satisfied with the hospitals’ emergency services in the past,” said Firozuddin Firoz, the Public Health Minister.
He said the emergency wards are equipped with all necessary heath facilities including emergency medicines, operation tools, beds and other medical facilities. “The faculties can provide standard health services to the citizens. The emergency wards were not standard in the past and patients were faced with serious problems in this aspect,” he added.
Lack of quality health services in the country push tens of Afghans to travel abroad for treatment on daily basis. Afghans mostly travel to India and Pakistan for treatment purposes, and it is said that they bear the brunt of several problems there, and spend thousands of dollars every time they travel to the countries.
Hinting at the issue, the minister said that it will be very early to prevent countrymen from traveling abroad for treatment purposes. “We need at least two years to build the capacity of public hospitals. However, it requires huge budget,” he added.
He also said that the ministry is committed to improve the capacity of Indira Gandhi children’s Hospital within upcoming month and will provide all health facilities to the hospital.
About poor quality health services in private hospitals and health clinics, the minister mentioned that at least 60 private hospitals and 130 medicine importer companies were evaluated in past three months. “The result of the assessment will be made public in upcoming week,” he promised.
The hospitals with reconstructed emergency wards include Ibn Sina Emergency Hospital, Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan Hospital, Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital, Istiqlal Hospital, Khairkhana 102-bed Hospital and others.
