Afghanistan's only COVID-19 facility in Kabul faces shortage of supplies, drugs: Report

Afghanistan’s only COVID-19 facility in Kabul for more than 4 million people is struggling with a lack of supplies and funding to appropriately attend the severely ill patients, reported The Associated Press. Even though the COVID-19 cases in the Taliban-controlled, war-ravaged country are lower than the peak a few months ago, the hospital system of the nation is nearing collapse as it survives solely with the help of the aid groups, as per the report. The news agency quoted Dr Ahmad Fatah Habibyar, the hospital’s administration logistics manager as saying, “We face many problems here”.

Reportedly, the Afghanistan-Japan Hospital has run out of diesel fuel which is essential to produce oxygen for severe patients of COVID-19. It is also falling short of other supplies such as drugs, equipment and food. Habibyar said, “Oxygen is a big issue for us because we can’t run the generators” and added that the hospital could not “afford the diesel."

Staffers have not been paid for months

AP also stated that apart from the shortage of supplies, the staffers have also not been paid for several months. However, they are still continuing to show up for work. As per the report, HealthNet TPO program manager Willem Reussing said, “The health care system ... is really on the brink of collapsing…The Afghan-Japan Hospital is a dire example, where we are nearly begging donors to step in and save lives.” Additionally, Dr Shereen Agha who runs the Afghanistan-Japan Hospital’s intensive care unit has said that “we are not ready for Omicron” while adding, “A disaster will be here”. Under the former government of Afghanistan, the hospital was being managed by the Netherlands-based group, HealthNet TPO. But, that contact ran in November, stated AP. Prior to that, the facility was funded through the World bank but it has frozen the assets since the Taliban took over the nation in August. 

Subsequently, as the Taliban reconquered Afghanistan, several other international entities also froze aid and Afghan assets. Mounting on health concerns, Afghanistan is also facing a broader economic and humanitarian crisis as the Taliban-led administration struggles to be recognised by the international community. In an October report, the United Nation’s (UN) World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Organization found that nearly half of the country’s population faced high levels of acute food insecurity between September and October.

Image: Unsplash/AP