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The Abdullah Omar Health Post - Wardak Province
Afghans4Tomorrow opens a Health Post in Wardak (photo 6-2-07)
Update as of Sept. 2009:
Our clinic has four staff members. The quality of the health of the village served by the clinic has improved thanks to the health care provided by this clinic and staff, including: urgentcare, gynecological services, pharmacy, inoculations, etc.
Our staff treated 1,461 patients during June 2009.
Needed:
An Emergency Room
One midwife
One laboratory
Transportation for patients to a hospital in emergencies
The availability of basic health care in Afghanistan has improved over the past five years, however there is still a critical shortage of clinics and hospitals especially in rural parts of the country. A4T has distributed medical supplies and equipment over the years to doctors and clinics and has sought to make a bigger impact on improving the health of the local population in the Chak District in the western part of Wardak Province. This province is southwest of Kabul and has a population of 413,000.
The people in this district are very poor and the earlier drought affected this district badly. The 25 years of war reduced the education to a very low level. The district has a population of 105,300 of which nearly half are under 15 years old. People are served by one hospital, in the district`s capitol called Chak, four health clinics, and 28 health posts but more are needed.
A report about those receiving treatment for ailments in 2006 shows that the majority had severe diarrhea or severe respiratory infections while some suffered from malnutrition. The roads are very bad in this district and the security has gotten worse this year making it difficult for many rural residents to get needed medical care.
To help villagers with no access to health care in this district, A4T opened the Abdullah Omar Health Post on June 3, 2007, in Shekh Yassin in Wardak Province. Construction by A4T on this Health Post began in 2005. The building was finished early last year and the water well and surrounding wall and gate were completed this year. The clinic is named after the late Dr. Abdullah Omar, who served as Minister of Public Health in Afghanistan from 1973-1978. The people of Wardak knew about his life-long commitment to the public health sector, and upon the recommendation by A4T’s President at that time, they named the clinic after him.
The Abdullah Omar Health Post
in Shekh Yassin (January 2006)
The Health Post provides services to an average of 40-50 men, women and children each day, offering medicines, check-ups, immunizations and other basic health information and services to the villagers. It is thus helping to save lives, especially those whose situation is critical, such as women and children who are vulnerable to many diseases.
The Health Post has a doctor, a pharmacist and a guard. The doctor and pharmacist live on the premises, thus are available 24 hours a day. They have treated 2,635 patients during July, August and September.
During this same time period, the female surgeon A4T hired earlier this year for the Chak hospital treated over 2,500 patients. Some of them came from Shekh Yassin, 10 miles away. Women were flocking to the hospital in large numbers during the spring and summer: Up to 260 patients per day! The gynecologist/surgeon provided more intensive health services such as deliveries, surgeries, treatments for infections.
We are pleased to report that from July through September, this female doctor performed 55 c-sections and at least 216 live birth normal deliveries, thus saving the lives of many mothers and babies. The new Afghan Ambassador to the UN Zahir Tanin stated in November that for the first time in six years (and probably since the 1980’s) the maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan has declined. He said that the Ministry of Health estimates that the lives of 40,000 pregnant women were saved this past year.
We believe A4T has made a significant contribution to this important milestone from its work through our doctor in Chak and the staff at our health post. We are proud of this accomplishment.
The above good news also shows the high importance of this rural hospital especially for poor women living in rural areas. These women don't have enough money to afford the a trip to Kabul nor medical treatment in a Kabul hospital.
We thank the Episcopal Relief and Development for funding and sustaining this project, as well as Reverend Chloe Breyer, the Boulder and Fort Collins Colorado Rotary Clubs, the Fayaz Company, and individual donors like you for making this project possible.
Over 400 Kits made for the New Mothers
in Shekh Yassin, Wardak!
With the high infant mortality rate in Afghanistan (one out of seven Afghan babies die before their first year as a result of illness and malnutrition) we started a campaign to raise money for kits of needed baby supplies that women from Shekh Yassin, who have delivered a baby, could take home. We asked our friends, family and co-workers to buy a 'New Mother's Kit'. For donations made of at least $45, in the name of a mother chosen by the donor, we sent a personal card letting them know a donation of a New Mother`s Kit was made in their honor! The cards were sent to them as Mother`s Day gifts.
We raised $2,200 during this drive, which has been spent on the materials and labor for the kits. We hired local Afghan women to sew some items included in the kit. Each kit includes: several cloth diapers, receiving blankets, undershirts, a long shirt, washcloths, soap and petroleum jelly. Some A4T students volunteered to assemble all the kits into large plastic bags in September, resulting in 412 kits (see our Photo Library). Our A4T Director of Education and staff in Kabul are supervising the project.
We are grateful to the afghans for Afghans project for initiating their Mother's Day campaign last spring to support the new health services operated by Afghans4Tomorrow. Through our affiliate afghans for Afghans, volunteers across the United States and Canada hand-knit and crocheted several hundred wool baby blankets, hats, and socks for new mothers. These items will be added to every new mother's kit. Because of the insulating properties, wool fiber can be life-saving to a new baby and improves the comfort of the baby's earliest days.
Moreover, their donation of 4,325 handmade wool items included blankets, sweaters, vests, hats, socks, and mittens to be distributed to the siblings of the new babies so that all the family members will take home a unique gift. These practical symbols of goodwill and peace will warm the new babies and girls and boys throughout the harsh winters.
Thanks to all who donated during our Mother's Day project!
Note: Funds are needed to supply the Health Posts' future medical supplies and salaries for the medical staff. Please see Donate to A4T.
The article below was seen in the Kabul newspaper,
Cheragh (meaning light, or lamp):
"Needs of health centers in the country
By: Ghorzank
June 21, 2007 - Several decades of war damaged nearly all things in our country. To do the rehabilitation of it all, will require hard work. One of the needs in the country are health centers for the people. Some people, even in the central provinces, cannot reach hospitals in time and have died.
Fortunately in some regions, small health services have been built; one of those is the Abdullah Omar Health Post which began health services in Shekh Yassin village in the Chak district of Wardak Province. The land has been donated by Mayar family and the building constructed by Afghans4Tomorrow -an NGO. There are medical staff in service at the HP who treat patients very well and provide good medications. Some 1200 families and the neighbor villages' families are receiving the benefits of the health service. Although it is registered with Ministry of Health, Afghans4Tomorrow runs the health post. This health service opened in the presence of elders. People are very happy for this kind of help but still need more health centers. People appreciate this and request to continue the Health service for long time."
View the newspaper article under Quick Links on the right.
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