The World Health Organization held a press conference today, Thursday, on Lebanon and Afghanistan, with a focus on the health and humanitarian situation in the two countries, as a result of the visit of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, and Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.
Speaking at the conference were: Dr. Richard Brennan, Regional Director of Health Emergencies, Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr. Iman Al-Shanqiti, representative of the World Health Organization in Lebanon, and Dr. Le Dabang, representative of the World Health Organization in Afghanistan.
“We recently completed a high-level mission to Kabul, Afghanistan, where we met with senior members of the Taliban leadership, United Nations partners, healthcare workers and patients, and WHO staff,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed immediately after his visit to Afghanistan. On the verge of collapse, unless urgent action is taken, the country faces an imminent humanitarian catastrophe, and our visit allowed us to see first-hand the urgent needs of the Afghan people and meet with stakeholders to determine how to urgently scale up our health response.
Building on the United Nations principles of neutrality and independence, we have engaged in constructive dialogue to address differences and find solutions that will allow us to continue our life-saving work for the millions of innocent Afghans affected by decades of conflict.
During our visit, they added, we focused on a number of priority health issues that need immediate attention, as well as the need for investment in achieving long-term development goals.
Cuts in donor support for the country’s largest health project have left thousands of health facilities without funding for medical supplies and salaries for health staff. They explained that this collapse in health services has a ripple effect on the availability of basic health care, as well as on emergency response, polio eradication, and vaccination efforts against the Corona virus.
And 9 out of 37 hospitals for the Corona virus were already closed, and all aspects of the response to the virus, including monitoring, testing and vaccination, decreased before August of this year, and 2.2 million people were vaccinated against Corona, and in recent weeks vaccination rates fell rapidly while 1.8 million doses remained Corona vaccine in the country is not used, and there is a need to take quick measures to use these doses in the coming weeks and work to achieve the goal of vaccinating at least 20% of the population by the end of the year based on national goals.
Afghanistan is one of the countries in the world where polio is still endemic, with only one case of polio reported this year, compared to 56 in 2020, they said, and there has never been a better time to eradicate polio, however, The polio program will struggle to respond if basic immunization infrastructure begins to collapse, and measles outbreaks are spreading, with access unimpeded in all communities, WHO and partners are ready to start a nationwide polio vaccination campaign and include vaccination Against measles and corona virus in an integrated campaign.
The World Health Organization places particular emphasis on the need for women to maintain access to education, health care and a health workforce. With fewer functioning health facilities and fewer female health workers going to work, women are reluctant to seek care. We are committed to working with partners to invest in health education for girls and women, as well as further training for female health workers.
WHO also continues to support a comprehensive trauma program including training, supplies and equipment for 130 hospitals and 67 blood banks.
We reaffirm WHO’s long-standing commitment to advancing the health of all Afghans and remind all stakeholders of our collective commitments today and in the months and years ahead.
The World Health Organization held a press conference today, Thursday, on Lebanon and Afghanistan, with a focus on the health and humanitarian situation in the two countries, as a result of the visit of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, and Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.
Speaking at the conference were: Dr. Richard Brennan, Regional Director of Health Emergencies, Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr. Iman Al-Shanqiti, representative of the World Health Organization in Lebanon, and Dr. Le Dabang, representative of the World Health Organization in Afghanistan.
“We recently completed a high-level mission to Kabul, Afghanistan, where we met with senior members of the Taliban leadership, United Nations partners, healthcare workers and patients, and WHO staff,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed immediately after his visit to Afghanistan. On the verge of collapse, unless urgent action is taken, the country faces an imminent humanitarian catastrophe, and our visit allowed us to see first-hand the urgent needs of the Afghan people and meet with stakeholders to determine how to urgently scale up our health response.
Building on the United Nations principles of neutrality and independence, we have engaged in constructive dialogue to address differences and find solutions that will allow us to continue our life-saving work for the millions of innocent Afghans affected by decades of conflict.
During our visit, they added, we focused on a number of priority health issues that need immediate attention, as well as the need for investment in achieving long-term development goals.
Cuts in donor support for the country’s largest health project have left thousands of health facilities without funding for medical supplies and salaries for health staff. They explained that this collapse in health services has a ripple effect on the availability of basic health care, as well as on emergency response, polio eradication, and vaccination efforts against the Corona virus.
And 9 out of 37 hospitals for the Corona virus were already closed, and all aspects of the response to the virus, including monitoring, testing and vaccination, decreased before August of this year, and 2.2 million people were vaccinated against Corona, and in recent weeks vaccination rates fell rapidly while 1.8 million doses remained Corona vaccine in the country is not used, and there is a need to take quick measures to use these doses in the coming weeks and work to achieve the goal of vaccinating at least 20% of the population by the end of the year based on national goals.
Afghanistan is one of the countries in the world where polio is still endemic, with only one case of polio reported this year, compared to 56 in 2020, they said, and there has never been a better time to eradicate polio, however, The polio program will struggle to respond if basic immunization infrastructure begins to collapse, and measles outbreaks are spreading, with access unimpeded in all communities, WHO and partners are ready to start a nationwide polio vaccination campaign and include vaccination Against measles and corona virus in an integrated campaign.
The World Health Organization places particular emphasis on the need for women to maintain access to education, health care and a health workforce. With fewer functioning health facilities and fewer female health workers going to work, women are reluctant to seek care. We are committed to working with partners to invest in health education for girls and women, as well as further training for female health workers.
WHO also continues to support a comprehensive trauma program including training, supplies and equipment for 130 hospitals and 67 blood banks.
We reaffirm WHO’s long-standing commitment to advancing the health of all Afghans and remind all stakeholders of our collective commitments today and in the months and years ahead.