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Afghanistan 08 After 25 years of war, Afghanistan faces extreme poverty, insecurity, political instability, appalling infrastructure and large gender disparities. The six million people that left Afghanistan for fear of war and persecution are now gradually returning. Although a lot of progress has been made since 2002, in many Afghan provinces health care is still almost non-existent. As of 2005, only 77% of the population has access to basic health facilities. The status of maternal and child health in Afghanistan is amongst the poorest in the world. By the end of 2001 the Taliban were ousted by a US-led coalition. A new interim authority, (later the interim government) was installed. The Ministry of Health was revived with new leadership in all senior positions. Soon a new health policy was drafted, stating the key policy element of wanting to deliver a basic package of health services to all Afghans. Within a year a health strategy, based on this initial policy, was formulated and put in motion. Key elements were the Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) together with a definition of levels of healthcare. It was decided to have the BHS delivered to as many Afghans as possible by Nonstate Providers. HealthNet TPO was selected as one of the implementers.
During 2002-2004, the Afghan Ministry of Public Health (assisted by the World Bank and the EU)
focused on information gathering, disease prevention, reconstruction, donor coordination and policy making. In
April 2005, the National Health Policy 2005-2009 was formulated in which the following targets are set for 2009: The Taliban’s restrictions on education for women prevented the development of female health providers from higher education systems. Until recently women were only allowed to use the services of female health providers, and had to be accompanied by a male escort (husband or adult male relative). The combination of these rules makes access to health care for women and reducing maternal mortality one of the main challenges that the new government is facing. NGO’s, including HealthNet TPO, are playing a key role in facilitating the return to work for female medical staff. In August 2008 I went to Afghanistan in order to make a documentary as an unembedded photographer for HealthNet TPO. I was struck by the visible decline of Afghan life in Kabul and in the Nangarhar region (Jalalabad). Women are dressed in burkas and the number of fatal Taliban attacks rises every week. The NGO’s form a big hunt for the Taliban and a number of deathly attacks on social workers and on the French ISAF military force on the road from Kabul to Jalalabad forces the government to close down this road for at least a month. In order to get to the capital of Nangarhar I catch a UN airplane and make my documentary in various hospitals. I finish my work in the mental health hospital in Kabul where the light of day seems to extinguish slowly. The photographs show not only victims of Taliban force and domestic violence but also midwives education, surgery and the birth of a brand-new life in Afghanistan. |
