Residents of Parwan province express concern about the disruption of health services after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. According to residents of the densely populated province of Parwan, hospitals and health clinics across the province are facing a shortage of medicine, medical equipment, and in some cases a shortage of health professionals.
Haji Qadir’s 22-year-old son is hospitalized in the 100-bed public hospital in Parwan after undergoing surgery. Haji Qadir says that due to the lack of facilities in the hospital, in exchange for money, he performed all of his son’s examinations in private clinics.
“I bought a booth a few years ago for 20,000 afghanis to run a shop,” he said. “Now I have to resell it for 5,000 afghanis because of my son’s treatment.”
The resident of Parwan is urging officials in the Taliban-led government to fund and equip government hospitals in the capital and provinces as soon as possible.
In addition, some residents of Parwan’s districts say that due to the lack of medical facilities in the clinics, they have to transfer their patients to the only public hospital in the center of the province. According to them, however, the 100-bed hospital in Parwan is also facing a shortage of medicine, vital equipment, and even health personnel.
“Today I transferred my patient from Bagram district to the center of Parwan due to the lack of health facilities in the district clinics, but there are no satisfactory health facilities here either,” said Rashid, another resident of Parwan province.
Meanwhile, some health workers and doctors in Parwan state that they have not received their monthly salaries for three to five months.
A doctor at Parwan’s 100-bed hospital, who speaks on the condition of anonymity, told Hasht-e Subh that some health personnel and doctors in the province were facing economic challenges. He warned that if this situation continues, they will be forced to leave their posts.
“We have not been paid for four months,” he said. I rent a house for three thousand afghanis a month. Like me, all health workers have rent and electricity bills and dozens of other problems.
“If they do not pay us, we will be forced to resign and flee the country.”
However, officials in Parwan’s public health department denied the allegations of a lack of health facilities at the 100-bed hospital in Parwan, saying that the salaries of health workers and government doctors in the province would soon be paid by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Mohammad Nadir Haqqani, head of Parwan’s public health department, told Hasht-e Subh that if the UN did not pay the salaries of health workers, the Ministry of Public Health would be willing to pay them from the ministry’s special budget.
“The salaries of health workers have not been paid by the previous regime for three months,” he added. The reason why we have not paid them yet is the closure of banks. Healthcare professionals will be paid by the United Nations soon.”
According to the Department of Public Health in Parwan, more than 1,140 health workers are currently working in hospitals and health centers in the province.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) announced last month that it would pay the October salaries of at least 25,000 doctors, nurses, and other health care personnel in the hundreds of hospitals and clinics in Afghanistan soon. It is worth mentioning that this money only includes the October salaries of the employees and it is not clear when and through which budget the remaining salaries of these employees will be paid.
