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Updated December 30th, 2021 at 09:44 IST

Afghanistan's 21 COVID-19 hospitals forced to shut down due to lack of funds: Report

Amid ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan since Taliban took over, around 21 COVID-19 hospitals have been shut down due to a lack of financial resources.

Reported by: Aanchal Nigam
Afghanistan
(IMAGE: Unsplash/AP) | Image:self
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Amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan since the Taliban took over, around 21 COVID-19 hospitals have been shut down due to a lack of financial resources. While the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) suspended financial aid to Afghanistan after the Taliban reconquered the nation, a report by Pajhwok Afghan News stated that the Taliban-led government’s Ministry of Public Health is concerned over the closure of more than 20 hospitals. However, it added that a number of international organisations are ready to fund some of the hospitals.

Before the former Afghan government fell to the Taliban in August this year, hundreds of millions of US dollars were provided to the war-ravaged country in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s administration had allocated 1.2 million dollars from the government to tackle the coronavirus. Now, with the emergence of ‘highly-mutated Omicron variant, freezing of crucial aid, and closing of COVID-19 hospitals, Afghanistan faces a new set of humanitarian challenges as the world enters the third year of pandemic. 

As per the report, the United States froze nearly $10 billion assets of Afghanistan and international community aid was also suspended. Dr. Javed Hajir, a spokesman for MoPH, told Pajhwok Afghan News that following the Coronavirus outbreak in Afghanistan, the government had put together 38 hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients. However, due to lack of funds, he said that out of those 38, only 17 are operational.

Nearly 50% hospitals unfunctional

It is to note that Hajir did not name the hospitals which were shut down but said that active hospitals registered new COVID-19 cases and deaths. He even revealed that the ministry is in talks with several international donors to reactivate the COVID-19 hospitals in the country as nearly 50% are presently unfunctional.

Hajir told the news outlet that the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) were among the organizations ready to fund some COVID-19 hospitals in Afghanistan. He further noted that IOM has already taken responsibility for funding COVID hospitals in Nangarhar, Helmand, Herat and Kandahar provinces. Meanwhile, WHO and UNICEF have agreed to fund five hospitals each, according to the report. 

(IMAGE: Unsplash/AP)

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Published December 30th, 2021 at 09:44 IST

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