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Afghanistan: The challenge of caring for the sick and wounded in conflict-affected areas

04-04-2014 Photo gallery

The reasons for the closure of rural health centres and clinics in conflict-riven Afghanistan are many and varied. Violations of international humanitarian law are high on the list, with patients delayed or prevented from reaching hospital, medical personnel harassed or kidnapped, and facilities used for purposes other than health care. As World Health Day 2014 – on 7 April – approaches, the following photos taken at Mirwais Regional Hospital in Kandahar last September give an insight into the scale of the challenges faced by medical staff on a daily basis.

  • Victims of traffic accidents, such as this young boy with a fractured leg and head injuries, are as much of a priority as the war wounded
    • Victims of traffic accidents, such as this young boy with a fractured leg and head injuries, are as much of a priority as the war wounded. Road traffic accidents are unfortunately very common in southern Afghanistan owing to bad road conditions, poor vehicle maintenance and reckless driving. It is incumbent on combatants and those in positions of authority to facilitate safe and swift access to medical care not only for those wounded in fighting, but also for the sick and injured.
      © ICRC / Will Carter
  • In situations of violence, health-care workers, medical facilities and vehicles transporting the sick and wounded must be respected and protected. Here in the intensive care unit, ICRC staff and hospital nurses visit a young boy from Zabul province who has a gunshot wound to the head. Sadly, he died five days after being admitted.
    • In situations of violence, health-care workers, medical facilities and vehicles transporting the sick and wounded must be respected and protected. Here in the intensive care unit, ICRC staff and hospital nurses visit a young boy from Zabul province who has a gunshot wound to the head. Sadly, he died five days after being admitted.
      © ICRC / Will Carter
  • Even in the chaos of war, it is still possible to ensure that people have timely access to health care. Here in the observation ward, ICRC health field officer Abdul Baki talks with a boy from Maywand district who injured both hands while playing with unexploded ordnance.
    • Even in the chaos of war, it is still possible to ensure that people have timely access to health care. Here in the observation ward, ICRC health field officer Abdul Baki talks with a boy from Maywand district who injured both hands while playing with unexploded ordnance.
      © ICRC / Will Carter
  • When medical facilities, especially in remote rural areas, are not functioning normally or are even closed because of the conflict, the sick and chronically ill are as much affected as those wounded on the front lines.
    • When medical facilities, especially in remote rural areas, are not functioning normally or are even closed because of the conflict, the sick and chronically ill are as much affected as those wounded on the front lines. This small boy from Helmand has just been operated on for a chronic condition and is being visited by a young relative in the hospital’s paediatric ward.
      © ICRC
  • ICRC head nurse Apollo Barasa teaches wound care to nurses as they examine a patient who was shot in the abdomen while caught in crossfire in Kandahar city.
    • ICRC head nurse Apollo Barasa teaches wound care to nurses as they examine a patient who was shot in the abdomen while caught in crossfire in Kandahar city. Health-care workers must provide care impartially, prioritizing treatment solely on the basis of need.
      © ICRC / Will Carter
  • Dr Shah Mahmoud examines a child in the paediatric consulting room of the outpatients department. Safe access to health care for both the wounded and sick will remain a major focus of attention for the ICRC for as long as the conflict in Afghanistan continues and local health services are unable to function normally.
  • An ICRC senior medical officer checks on a baby who was delivered by caesarean section. Where there is no safe access to health care locally, women who have had complicated pregnancies often endure long and painful journeys over dangerous roads to reach Mirwais hospital for the birth of their child.
  • ICRC hospital project manager Akiko Ito visits patients in the burns unit. All three children are from the same family and live in the Sanguin district of Helmand Province. The children sustained severe burns while trying to set light to some explosive remnants of war.
  • This little girl from Greishk district, Helmand province, was badly burned by kerosene that was being used to fill a lamp. Her brother died in the same incident. Domestic accidents such as this are sadly very common – and if the victim then has to endure hours of pain travelling on unmade roads to reach a functioning hospital, the shock and trauma of the accident is magnified.

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