Kabul, 18 August 2018 - Since fighting broke out on 10 August in Ghazni, Central Afghanistan, World Health Organization (WHO) has provided 1 trauma kits and 3 Interagency Emergency Health kit to support emergency health and medical services to treat the wounded at the provincial hospital, supporting 3000 patients who urgently need health services in Ghazni.  Humanitarian partners remain on standby to scale up activities once safe and secure access is ensured both for aid workers and people in need.

Over 200 civilian casualties were reported during the fighting in Ghazni, according to UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).  Many more are in needs of urgent humanitarian support in this city of 270,000 people. In the provincial hospital, doctors were working to take in new admissions while a hospital rapid response team was sent out to bring critically injured patients back throughout the day.

WHO Afghanistan responded to this emergency when request from the Ghazni Provicnial Hospital came in for urgent replenishment of trauma and medical supply.  Supplies from WHO Kabul warehouse were sent when the road access become available on August 14.  The normally 6 hours journey took more than 28 hours due to many road blocks.  Supplies reached Ghazni Provincial Hospital in the afternoon of August 15.