(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 13 - A large part of the Afghan health system is on the verge of collapse due to the Western sanctions imposed on the Taliban. This is the alarm raised by international experts, writes the Guardian, as the country finds itself facing disease outbreaks and a growing crisis of malnutrition.
Afghanistan is experiencing a deepening humanitarian crisis following the Taliban seizure of power last August, as well as the growing level of famine and economic collapse. Many healthcare workers have not been paid for months and healthcare facilities also lack the basic equipment to treat patients.
Dr Paul Spiegel, director of the Center for HumanitarianHealth at Johns Hopkins University, said on a recent 5-week trip around the country he visited public hospitals that are "free of fuel, drugs, hygiene products and even base as colostomy patches ".
"It's a really bad situation and it will get much worse," Spiegel said. "There are six simultaneous epidemics: cholera, measles, polio, malaria and dengue fever, and this adds to the coronavirus pandemic," he added, arguing that the reference hospital for infectious diseases in Kabulé is "on its knees".
"The staff have not received their salaries for months. There are hardly any medicines left and they are cutting the trees in the courtyard to heat the rooms because there is no gas."
Outside Kabul the situation is even worse: "There is a provincial hospital in Sarobi, outside the capital that I visited. There was not enough soap and water for hygiene protocols," Spiegel said again.
According to the doctor, the West must find a different approach to imposing sanctions: "While they understand the concerns about the Taliban ... the reality is that many people will mourn because of them."
(HANDLE).