Afghanistan, more violence in Kabul: the country 3 years after the return of the Taliban is off the radar of the media system

ROMA – A population starving due to the economic crisis, with difficult access to healthcare and a still unstable security situation: this is demonstrated by the explosion that occurred yesterday, Sunday 11 August, in Kabul following which EMERGENCY received 8 wounded in his hospital in the capital.

How are the Afghans doing? Three years have passed since international forces left Afghanistan on 15 August 2021 and the country returned to the control of the Taliban government. And while it seems that the international community and the media are disinterested in this crisis, EMERGENCY continues to work in the country. In these three years, from the observatory of its three hospitals and its 40 first aid posts and clinics scattered across the country, the organization founded by Gino Strada has seen Afghanistan sink into an economic crisis that has led to 23.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. Of these, 12.4 million are in conditions of food insecurity and almost half of the population – about 48% – lives below the poverty line.

The urgency of sustainable projects. “Afghanistan needs sustainable projects that respond to the needs of the population,” comments Dejan Panic, EMERGENCY program director in Afghanistan. “We are investing more and more both in surgical skills, through the training of professionals who, once they graduate from our specialization programs, will be included in the Afghan health system, and in the training of new generations of nurses and trainers.”

70% are war wounded. “In the first six months of the year, about 70% of patients operated on in our hospital in the capital are considered war wounded,” Panic continues. “We consider such patients to be those who have suffered wounds from cutting weapons, firearms, shrapnel and mines. Family disputes, widespread crime, attacks with explosions and shootings are the main causes. The latest explosion was yesterday, August 11, in the Dasht and Barchi neighborhood, from which we received 8 wounded, 7 of them admitted to the operating room; one in serious condition.

Primary health centers. During 2024, five of EMERGENCY’s FAPs (First Aid Posts) were converted into primary health centers where doctors and nurses respond to the basic health needs of the population as well as continuing to offer a referral service to the NGO’s hospitals. “This is a fundamental service, especially in remote areas like Helmand, where the villages are far from the cities,” explains the coordinator. “Reaching a hospital can be very complicated. 70% of the Afghan population lives in rural areas and even when they reach local hospitals there are no doctors and medicines available, so they end up turning to private providers. Offering them the services they need for free means they don’t have to go to inadequate hospitals or get into debt to pay for treatment.”