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WHO responds to health needs following floods in Afghanistan
One of the major health concerns during floods is the risk of communicable disease due to interruptions in safe water and sanitation services Heavy rainfall from 24 to 25 April 2014 resulted in flash floods across 10 provinces in northern, north-east and western Afghanistan. Initial reports indicate that Jawzjan province is the worst affected....
World Health Day 2014 celebrated in Afghanistan
World Health Day, commemorating the founding of WHO, is celebrated on 7 April each year, but due to the elections was celebrated on 9 April 2014 this year in Kabul, Afghanistan. The theme of this year's day was vector-borne diseases. In her address, the Minister of Public Health H.E. Dr Suraya Dalil highlighted the health toll and economic burden...
STOP TB - The Afghanistan Portraits
The photographs have been produced with the support of the National Stop TB Partnership in Afghanistan and WHOThe photography exhibition "STOP TB - The Afghanistan Portraits" is an exhibition of portraits of people with TB taken by the international humanitarian photographer Laura Salvinelli in western Afghanistan. TB is a disease of poverty. In...
Reducing maternal, neonatal and child deaths in Afghanistan
Kabul, 8 December, 2013 – The Ministry of Public Health and its UN partners on 8December 2013 announced the introduction of two action plans to further reduce maternal, neonatal and child deaths in the country. While great progress has been made in recent years, maternal and child mortality rates in Afghanistan remains among the highest in the...
Afghanistan introduces the 13 valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine into routine immunization schedule
Hundreds of infants in Afghanistan received their first shots against pneumococcal disease today targeting the country’s biggest child killer – pneumonia Kabul, 7 December, 2013 - As part of the Government of Afghanistan’s ongoing efforts to improve the health of the country’s future generations, H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan,...
World Sight Day 2013 celebrated in Afghanistan
According to the data for 2010, 80% of visual impairment, including blindness, is avoidable. The two main causes of visual impairment in the world are uncorrected refractive errors (42%) and cataract (33%) although cost-effective interventions to reduce the burden of both conditions exist in all countriesKabul, 9 October – World Sight Day 2013 was...
National workshop on comprehensive assessment of civil registration and vital statistics
The health information system is the backbone of the health system. It includes a range of population-based and health facility-based data sources.Kabul, 15 September 2013 – The Ministry of Public Health, the Central Statistics Organization (CSO), and the Civil Registration Directorate of the Ministry of Interior, with technical and financial...
Stigma – a major barrier to suicide prevention in Afghanistan
Lack of access to appropriate care is one of the many factors that magnify the stigma associated with mental illness and with suicidal ideation and behaviour.Kabul, 11 September – World Suicide Prevention Day 2013 was celebrated in Afghanistan this year under the slogan of “Stigma – a major barrier to suicide prevention”. Suicide is a growing...
The Government of Afghanistan demonstrates strong commitment to polio eradication efforts
Dr Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative for Afghanistan, administers an oral polio vaccine to a child during the inauguration of the first round of national immunization days, in the presence of Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, his two Vice Presidents, H.E. the Minister of Health of Afghanistan and other health officialsOn 25August 2013 in...
WHO supports Ministry's response to flash floods in Afghanistan
In his first week in office, Dr Rik Peeperkorn, WHO Representative for Afghanistan, is interviewed by local media on WHO's response to the floods and its support to the Government of AfghanistanOn 3 August, heavy rains resulted in flash floods and high levels of water in 17 villages in the Surobi district of Kabul province, which affected 519...
