Several patients and their attendants at Mirwais Regional Hospital in Kandahar say the hospital is suffering from a lack of facilities and health services, and that doctors only give them advice. According to them, there are no medicines in the hospital, and patients are forced to buy everything, from essential drugs to ordinary medicines, from the market at their own expense. Meanwhile, health sources at the facility also confirm that, due to financial problems, the hospital cannot provide necessary and timely services to patients. According to these sources, they have also raised the issue with the office of Hibatullah, but no action has been taken so far. The hospital has 400 beds.
Hazrat Shah, whose relative is admitted to the hospital, says his patient has been hospitalized for 20 days, yet the hospital does not even have an ordinary drip set for serum, and they are procuring all the medical supplies the patient needs from the market at their own expense. He adds that the hospital’s resources have nearly dropped to zero, and that every section of the hospital, from medical equipment to personnel, is facing shortages.
The Kandahar resident adds: “Everything costs money and nothing is free. Believe me, we even buy an ordinary drip set from the market with our own money. The doctors are here, but one doctor is so busy that he cannot attend to all the patients.”
In addition to patients from Kandahar, patients from Helmand, Uruzgan, Zabul, and Nimroz provinces also come to this hospital for treatment.
Haji Mohammad Sadiq, an elderly man from Gizab District of Uruzgan Province, has come to Mirwais Regional Hospital for treatment. He says that the cost of travel alone from Gizab to this hospital came to 7,500 Afghanis, and he came to the hospital hoping to be treated free of charge there, but so far he has not received even a single free capsule.
Mohammad Sadiq is 66 years old and came to the hospital with his eldest son because of a respiratory illness. He says that after arriving at the hospital, his hope of receiving free and proper treatment has vanished.
The man adds that he was admitted by the doctors eight days ago, but so far has not received even a single free capsule, and has bought all the medicines and the costs of examinations from the market. He says he has run out of money to buy medicine and does not have the fare to return home.
A number of patients’ attendants have also criticized the poor services of the hospital, saying that despite its operation at the regional level, health services are not adequately provided at this center.
Mirwais Regional Hospital was previously financially supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), but about a year ago this assistance was halted.
The Taliban had announced that a monthly budget of 47 million Afghanis would be allocated to this hospital, but sources at the hospital say this budget is not enough to pay the salaries of personnel and to meet the other needs of the center.
A health source at Mirwais Regional Hospital in Kandahar says that, on average, 1,200 patients visit the hospital every day, while the hospital has the capacity to admit and provide services to only about 400 inpatients. In his view, the negligence of the Taliban and mismanagement have caused both health personnel and patients to face serious problems.
This health source says that when the hospital’s expenses were covered by the ICRC, the benefits and salaries of health personnel were better and the health needs of patients were fully met. However, after the Taliban took over responsibility for running the hospital, doctors’ salaries have been reduced by 60 to 70 percent, and alongside that, the amount of medicine and medical equipment available to patients has also declined.
Meanwhile, an official at the hospital, who did not want to be named, says that about 45,000 surgical operations are performed at the hospital annually, and that patients from various sections come to this center even though they cannot afford to pay a single afghani.
He says that they have raised all these problems with the Taliban’s Ministry of Public Health, the Taliban’s Public Health Directorate in Kandahar, and even Hibatullah, the Taliban leader, but so far the existing problems have not been addressed.
This health source adds: “Everything here has gone out of our control. When a doctor tells a patient to go and get the medicine from outside, a lot of the doctor’s time is wasted. This is while we are facing a shortage of personnel, and every patient needs guidance. The problems are growing day by day in all sections. We have conveyed these problems to Hibatullah and all the relevant institutions, but so far no one has paid attention. I think either these problems are beyond their ability, or they do not feel any compassion for these people.”
Mirwais Regional Hospital was built in 1974 with financial support from China. The hospital, which is also known as the “Chinese Hospital,” has provided general health services to residents of the southern provinces of Afghanistan over the past five decades.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
کمبود دارو و تجهیزات در شفاخانه میرویس قندهار؛ بیماران: برای ما فقط مشوره داده میشود
