The French hospital in Kabul is the largest and probably the best hospital in the entire country. It employs about 1,000 people and is the only one with neonatal intensive care and the ability to perform certain complex surgeries. The staff who were able or had to stay on site have shown resilience and adaptability despite the major upheaval caused by the Taliban’s rise to power. Many continue their work with fear in their stomachs. But other problems loom, economic or related to the blockage of medical supplies that are not reaching their destination. In addition, many doctors and nurses, women and men, have left the country in a hurry. The president of La Chaîne de l’Espoir, Éric Cheysson, explains in a recent interview that there is a waiting list of 210 children who need open-heart surgery in the coming months and that without it, these children would simply lose their lives.
Prodie Santé has developed a partnership with La chaîne de l’espoir. Over time, more than a collaboration, strong ties have been forged between the two entities. We have followed with great concern the unfolding of events in Afghanistan from the departure of foreign troops to the rise to power of the Taliban. The departure of American troops has revealed a country whose population is collateral victim of an ineffective war. Many Afghans will have seen it all: Soviet tanks, foreign armies, mujahideen, Taliban, tribal landlords, executions, drones, destroyed villages, decimated families. All these years of violence have left behind many dead, a destabilized society, and endemic poverty and suffering.
Ensuring healthy lives for all is one of the United Nations’ main Sustainable Development Goals. Thanks to the work of doctors and medical staff at the French Hospital in Kabul, significant progress has been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some major causes of infant and maternal mortality. Prodie Santé stands ready to provide its unwavering support to La Chaîne de l’Espoir and all its courageous staff. This is a mission that is more crucial than ever and their fight for health is an example to follow. Eric Cheysson hopes that continuity of care can be ensured and that common ground will be found so that the staff can continue to carry out their mission without hindrance, for the good of the Afghan population. Because after all, as the author of Quijote wrote in his time: “Where there is life, there is hope.”
