Afghanistan: Care amid conflict in Mirwais Hospital, Kandahar
08-04-2013 Feature
The doctors and nurses of Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, know the heavy cost of conflict for ordinary Afghans. With Western forces pulling out, uncertainty looms over Afghanistan. For the ICRC the priority is to limit the impact of violence, through support to vital health facilities like Mirwais. This is the first of four audio slideshows on ICRC activity in Afghanistan.
Watch the other videos in the series:
Getting back on your feet - the work of the Kabul Orthopaedic Centre
Every day the sick and wounded stream through the doors of Mirwais Hospital, Kandahar, the only large-scale surgical facility in southern Afghanistan. Its doctors and nurses work at the heart of the continuing Afghan conflict, serving more than 5 million people from five provinces, delivering dozens of babies daily and treating the war casualties that arrive day and night.
Whereas in the past the ICRC had large teams of its own staff working in the hospital, now the focus is on assisting Afghan doctors and medical teams with training, advice and practical assistance such as equipment, drugs and the construction of new facilities. A new outpatient clinic has been built, X-ray facilities are to be upgraded and equipment maintenance is being carried out.The ICRC has supported Mirwais since 1996, and will continue to do so if it can, even after international forces leave Afghanistan.
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In the next video in the series, we'll be visiting Lashkar Gah and talking to head of office Arnaud Meffre about what life is really like in remote Helmand province.