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AFGHANISTAN: Where patients fear to tread

KABUL, 18 February 2010 (IRIN) - The only functioning health post in conflict-affected Marjah in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, is not being used because people fear they could get caught in crossfire if they try and get there, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

A staffed and functioning ICRC health post was set up in the town before the 13 February NATO/Afghan government offensive, and both sides notified of its existence.

“We treat both sick and wounded civilians and fighters,” Bijan Frederic Farnoudi, ICRC’s communication officer in Kabul, told IRIN, referring to the organization’s role under international law.

ICRC said it is having problems communicating with its medical staff in Marjah and is concerned about their safety as fighting continues. A few ICRC health workers were visiting those in need of health care in, or near, their homes. “Our main concern is patients being able to either safely access them, or our own staff safely accessing patients in their homes,” said Farnoudi.

The ICRC has taken nine people to the provincial capital of Lashkargah for hospital treatment. Evacuating the wounded and sick from Marjah had been tricky: The main road to Lashkargah is inaccessible and taking alternative routes is risky as no one knows where a roadside bomb might be, it said.

Mobile health teams

Over 1,400 displaced families (more than 10,000 individuals) have been registered in Lashkargah; 110 families have sought refuge in Nawa District, and 300 families in the Kashrod District of Helmand’s neighbouring Nimruz Province, according to aid agencies.

“Because IDPs [internally displaced persons] do not live in a camp or one specific area, we have launched two mobile health teams to serve them in Lashkargah city,” Enayatullah Ghafari, provincial director of the health department, told IRIN.

He said 30 displaced patients, most of them children suffering from acute respiratory and diarrhoeal diseases, were treated by mobile health workers on 17 February. Some of the treated children were also “malnourished”, Ghafari said.

Prior to the military operation, the health department was delivering basic health services in Taliban-controlled Marjah through a community health centre and two sub-posts.

“We have no news of our staff and don’t know about the status of our health centres in Marjah,” Ghafari said.

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Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Health & Nutrition

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Copyright © IRIN 2010
This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.
IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.