June 11, 2021

With no respite in fighting, Afghans gasp for air

topic:	Health and Sanitation
located:	Afghanistan
editor:	Shadi Khan Saif

Afghans have been gasping for air in public and private hospitals amid the third and deadly wave of the coronavirus pandemic, as the government and Taliban forces continue with their turf war - further weakening the country’s fragile health system.

The situation across Afghanistan, including the presumably safe and functional capital city Kabul, is no less than catastrophic, with desperate friends and family members shuttling the gasping patients from one hospital to another in search of a bed and oxygen.

Hospital sources and health ministry officials say they are overstretched way beyond their limits as the raging violence has put restrictions on their mobility and consequent circumstances have limited their ability to cope with the increasing number of patients. 

On Thursday, 10 June, Afghanistan once again recorded the highest single-day mortality rate, with 56 deaths and a record-breaking daily infection rate of 1822 - bringing the total number of infections in the country to 87,716 and deaths to 3412. 

In February, Afghanistan began the rollout of the Indian-made COVID-19 vaccine, as it calls for more international support to vaccinate at least 20 percent of the estimated population of 38 million this year, and 60 percent by the end of 2022.

The pandemic’s sheer magnitude has even ripped apart the relatively stronger health system in India last month, resulting in mass casualties and desperate scenes of agony all over the country as people saw their loved ones perish in front of their eyes.

In Afghanistan, a poor and devastated country, this is proving far more detrimental. 

Due to the war, the country has been failing to provide all of its citizens the very basic needs during the pandemic and has been lagging behind in, for instance, production of medicine and generation of oxygen. 

As per official figures, only 968,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered so far. Half of these vaccines, an estimated 500,000 doses, were gifted to Afghanistan by India, while another 486,000 doses came through the COVAX program.

Owing to the lack of vaccines, the Afghan government on Tuesday stopped the administration of the jabs. 

During the relative peace of the past few years, Afghans have shown that they are capable of learning and excelling in the field of medicine, but only if there is no imminent threat of the ensuing war limiting their capabilities in serving the nation. 

The country urgently needs a call for a comprehensive, nationwide ceasefire so that necessary aid and support could be prioritised, as opposed to wasting energy on fighting one another for the sake of a meaningless war that has wreaked havoc in the country for nearly two decades now.

Image: Asian Development Bank. 

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