The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that it has sent more than 350 tons of medical supplies into Afghanistan since September 2001. The shipments have been the sole source of essential medicines for about 3 million people, WHO said in a February 11 statement.

The shipments are important in a country where the medical system and the supply channels for necessary equipment and drugs have been broken down by years of war and neglect. The WHO is also delivering supplies to remote areas of Afghanistan that are inaccessible because of snow-covered mountain passes through much of the year. WHO is sending supplies by aircraft to isolated Ghor province starting the week of February 11.

WHO spokesperson Lori Hieber-Giradet said, "Many health clinics and hospitals would not have been able to provide even the most rudimentary services to needy populations through the past several months without these supplies." She spoke to reporters at a briefing in Islamabad.

In October 2001, WHO released a survey of health conditions in Afghanistan indicating that measles, acute respiratory infections, pregnancy related complications, diarrhea, and tuberculosis were major threats to the population. The WHO supplies equip hospitals and clinics to treat these conditions, and the agency offers other essential health services.

The WHO's October survey also found that Afghans have a life expectancy of 46 years, and 1 physician per 50,000 people.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
11 Feb 2002
Special report on Afghanistan -- Emergency health supplies

Emergency Health Supplies Saving Lives

In the northeast of Afghanistan, 50% of the area is inaccessible for most of the year. Like other remote areas of Afghanistan, villages and towns in Badakhshan province can be cut off for months at a time during harsh winter months. Heavy snowfalls block roads, making it impossible for local populations to secure essential supplies, including drugs, and medicines. In many areas, there are simply no roads at all. Of the million inhabitants of Badakhshan, half have no access any health services.

According to Dr. Katja Schemionek, of the WHO sub-office in Faizabad, 450,000 people living in areas of Badakhshan rely on the international community to provide them with essential medical supplies needed to survive. Recently, the World Health Organization dispatched 13 emergency health kits to Faizabad to be forwarded to the most remote areas in Badakhshan. In early November, three of the kits were carried over the snowy mountain passes by donkeys loaded with packs on their backs. No other means of transportation was available at that time.

The health supplies for Badakhshan were provided as part of the WHO's emergency response to the Afghanistan crisis. Since September 11, 2001, WHO has made sure nearly three million Afghans have had access to essential medicines.

In a humanitarian crisis, food, shelter, and water are the essential components needed to save lives. Without medicines to treat common diseases, however, fatality rates can skyrocket. In winter months, cold weather brings life-threatening diseases, such as pneumonia, which is difficult to treat without antibiotics.

The supply of essential medicines and supplies to Afghanistan is critical because many Afghans are not able to purchase required medicines. In some cases, patients will buy the initial doses of drugs needed, but be unable to pay for the medicine required to complete treatment.

Helping Afghans survive and improve their lives is a key concern of WHO. Shortly after the crisis began in Afghanistan this autumn, a Central Asia Crisis Unit was established in the Emergency and Humanitarian Action department of the World Health Organization in Geneva. One of this unit's primary tasks was to make sure Afghans have access to health supplies throughout the crisis, and winter months to tackle the diseases that ravage the Afghan people. The biggest killers are measles, acute respiratory infections, pregnancy related complications, diarrhoea, and tuberculosis. Emergency health kits equip hospitals and clinics with the supplies needed to treat these diseases, and offer other essential health services.

WHO sends three types of health packages to Afghanistan and the region:

-- Emergency Health Kits (Essential drugs for 10,000 people for three months)
-- Burn Dressing Modules (40 sterile dressings for burn cases)
-- Trauma Kits (Surgical supplies for 100 cases)

Emergency Health Kits make up the bulk of WHO's relief effort for Afghanistan. 357 have already been sent or are in the pipeline. This breaks down into 291 for Afghanistan, 20 for Iran, 25 for Pakistan, 7 for Turkmenistan, 7 for Tajikistan, and 7 for Uzbekistan. The kits are compiled by the manufacturer IDA (International Dispensary Association) in Holland and sent by airfreight to Pakistan, Iran, or Tajikistan from where they are transported to the neediest areas. This week, WHO officials in Herat will send supplies by aircraft to one of the most remote areas of Afghanistan, Ghor province. Otherwise, health supplies are transported mostly by road or donkey to the remote areas.

Each Emergency Health Kit contains 24 boxes weighing about one ton in total. The supplies have been carefully chosen, and are designed to provide the types of medicines a typical population of ten thousand people would be likely to require over a three-month period.

The contents include essential drugs to treat infectious diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, skin diseases, and gynaecological infections. Minor surgical equipment to treat bone fractures, and injuries are also included. Midwifery sets including forceps, and scissors help ensure safe deliveries.

Other health kit items include material to keep hospitals and clinics in functioning order, such as gloves, feeding tubes, and perfusions to be delivered intravenously. Emergency health kits enable health workers to treat a vast array of diseases including asthma, malaria, allergies, peptic disorders and even worms. Each health kit costs $4,100, with an additional $2,500 on average for transportation expenses.

A trauma kit contains enough surgical equipment to perform operations on one hundred patients. In a country which experiences hundreds of landmine injuries a day, emergency surgeries can be frequent. One part of the trauma kit contains drugs required for anaesthesia and the second part contains surgical instruments, such as scalpels, needles and syringes. These kits are often used for amputations or to perform emergency care for appendicitis. Each trauma kit costs $11,500.

Burn kits are compiled by Medecins san Frontieres for WHO and cost $125 each. They contain burn cream, gauze, dressings, and cotton swabs. Burns from cooking are, unfortunately, quite common in Afghanistan. In particular, women are vulnerable to burns from cooking oil. Burn kits also treat mine victims and war injuries.

The total cost to date for the supply of this material has been more than 2 million dollars. Many health clinics and hospitals would not have been able to provide even the most rudimentary services to needy populations throughout the past several months without these supplies.

In the months ahead as Afghanistan moves from an emergency to a reconstruction phase, it is important that the provision of essential health supplies also adapt to the developing situation. In 2002, WHO will work to help the Afghan Ministry of Health develop an essential drugs programme at an estimated cost of $25,000,000. This includes a system for buying and distributing safe and reliable drugs. By combining emergency relief, and long-term planning, the WHO is working to ensure that all Afghans are able to receive the medicines needed to save and improve their lives.