Following is the text of the WHO press release:

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
4 Mar 2002

Agencies Seek Major Investment In Afghan Health Sector

International agencies, including WHO, UNICEF and NGOs, have issued an appeal to international donors for $128,901,348 for humanitarian and immediate reconstruction activities for the health sector in Afghanistan for 2002. This funding request is part of the Immediate and Transitional Assistance Programme (ITAP) for the Afghan people.

WHO is seeking $60,451,015 to support the Afghan Ministry of Health start developing a health system for the country, after decades of neglect and for WHO activities in support of the Afghan refugees and local population in neighbouring countries. This is the largest funding request ever made by WHO for health activities in Afghanistan for a single year.

"Developing a functional health care system must be a top priority in the reconstruction of Afghanistan," said Dr. Mohammed Jama, WHO Regional Coordinator for the Afghanistan crisis, "As long as hundreds of thousand of Afghans continue to die from preventable diseases, a stable future for the country can not be guaranteed."

Afghanistan suffers from one of the poorest health conditions in the world. Six million Afghans have no access to medical care. Women are particularly vulnerable, with more than 16,000 women dying each year from pregnancy-related causes. One-fourth of Afghan children die before their fifth birthdays, often from preventable diseases such as measles.

Within the framework of Inter-Agency collaboration, WHO is proposing an essential package of health services based on the primary health care concept for Afghans to reduce high morbidity and mortality rates. WHO's aim is to develop and extend existing programmes to control communicable diseases, such as malaria, and tuberculosis which together kill over half a million Afghans per year. Making motherhood safer, integrated management of childhood illnesses, and establishing mental health services are prioritised.

"This package of basic services is designed to offer the basis of acceptable health care in Afghanistan, " said Dr. Said Youssouf, the WHO Representative in Afghanistan.

Another objective is to establish services for priority programmes such as emergency obstetric and trauma care. Currently, 50 of the country's 220 districts have no medical facility available.

Making blood transfusion safe is also a WHO objective in 2002. Currently, about half of Afghanistan 44 hospitals performing surgery have no means of testing blood for infectious diseases such as hepatitis, or HIV. WHO believes that improved health for all Afghans is a key requisite for peace and security in Afghanistan. Better health also has an essential role to play in social and economic development. For every dollar invested in health, there is a several fold return on the investment.

The total funding package for health being sought for Afghanistan in 2002 is equivalent to just over $5.00 per person. Globally, WHO suggests that $34 per person per year is required to provide basic health services, but currently Afghanistan's ability to absorb such large influxes of funds remain limited.

"Building Afghanistan's health sector is a long-term process," said Dr. Jama. "It will require careful planning, coordination and must be, above-all, an Afghan-driven process."

The Afghan Ministry of Health has already made important strides toward establishing a functioning structure for long-term health sector development. A meeting last month established an organisational structure for the Ministry and defined roles and responsibilities for each department. From March 9th to 13th, nearly a hundred Afghan provincial health officials will participate in a WHO-sponsored training workshop on health management. This training seminar will be followed by a nation-wide planning workshop bringing together hundreds of Afghan health officials, representatives of national and international NGOs, donors and UN agencies.

All WHO Press Releases, Fact Sheets and Features as well as other information on this subject can be obtained on Internet on the WHO home page http://www.who.int/