‘The world must not forget Afghanistan’, say Irish medics
Ciara Flood: 'Just because a country is not in active conflict, it doesn’t mean the population isn’t in massive need of humanitarian assistance.'
An emergency department sees an average of 1,000 patients daily, with only 340 beds on offer and where an average of 10 babies and children die each day.
Those are the conditions described by two Irish healthcare staff who have been working in one of Afganistan's busiest hospitals Boost in Hemand Province.
Their message is the world must not forget Afghanistan.
The emergency department in Boost, which is supported by Medicines Sans Frontières, saw more patients in the first six months of this year than any Irish ED did for the whole year.
A crisis in healthcare and food access has only grown since the 2021 evacuation by America and its coalition allies was followed by a Taliban takeover of the government, now formally known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
The World Health Organization recently warned millions of Afghans are “living with poor or no access to health and food, putting them at a severe risk of malnutrition and disease outbreaks”.
Ciara Flood, a nurse trained in paediatric and adult care working with MSF, spent six months in Boost's neonatal intensive care unit and paediatric intensive care unit.
“Between both my departments, about 10 children per day died. That is some of the highest mortality rates in most of the MSF projects,” she said.
“Just because a country is not in active conflict, it doesn’t mean the population isn’t in massive need of humanitarian assistance.”
Dr James Lee, emergency medicine physician, spent nine months in the ED.
“I remember seeing four women and children regularly die before the day shift ends, from preventable causes,” he said.
“I would just say don’t forget about Afghanistan. It is a humanitarian crisis in its truest form.”
