IMC UK - working in Afghanistan

Saving and rebuilding lives in Afghanistan

map of afghanistan © IRINnews.org Years of civil war, compounded by Taliban rule and drought, have devastated Afghanistan. In 2001 half of Afghanistan's population lived in absolute poverty and were unemployed. Post-Taliban rule, the health status of the Afghan people is still among the worst in the world and is a result of the lack of access to basic health services and information

With its first-ever elected president, Afghanistan continues on the path to political and social recovery. However, despite renewed assurances of continued international support, the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's ability to address problems related to the delivery of basic health care, education, and social services is seriously hindered in its by shortages of trained personnel, basic infrastructure, and resources

How IMC UK is helping

Infant clinic in Afghanistan Since IMC re-established its presence in Afghanistan in August 2001, the programme has grown to include 43 clinics, 5 emergency obstetric centres and one hospital in Kabul, Heart, Badghis, Wardak, Bamyan, Parwan, Kapisa, Paktia, Khost, Laghman, Konar and Nangahar provinces.

For more than two decades, IMC has provided extensive health care services and training for Afghans and it continues this long-standing commitment.

Over the last year IMC has provided health care in line with the Ministry of Health for over 1 million people, in seven provinces in central, southeast and eastern Afghanistan

IMC activities include:

Promoting maternal and child health
Supporting ex-child soldiers
Promoting mental health

IMC continues to work with the Ministry of Health (MoH), local health professionals and local health NGOs such as IbnSina, Help Afghan Farmers Organization (HAFO), Afghan Development Association (ADA), Afghan Women Council (AWC) and Afghan Bureau of Consultants (ABC)

IMC UK activities

Promoting maternal and child health

Most Afghan women have little or no access to basic health care which means infant and maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world
Almost 1 in 5 women die in childbirth
1 in 4 children die before their fifth birthday
The problem is rooted in the Afghan custom that women are only allowed to be treated by other women and there is an extreme shortage of female health workers in Afghanistan

To address this issue , IMC has trained thousands of Afghan health care workers, particularly focussing on women. Read Dr Shamail’s story

Breaking the cycle of poverty and illness
The training of women in itself works to break the cycle imposed during Taliban rule - of poverty and illness being amplified by a lack of information, opportunity and access to services for women

IMC's health programmes promote:

Safe motherhood practices (reproductive health education and treatment)
Child health (childhood diseases vaccination, nutrition)
Health education (e.g. malaria and diarrhoea prevention, nutrition, preparation of oral rehydration solution, breast-feeding, vaccinations, water and sanitation, and antenatal care)
Communicable disease management (e.g childhood diseases, HIV/AIDS)

Reaching women through community health workers
IMC-trained community health workers provided essential health education. Much of Afghanistan remains very conservative and women are often restricted from visiting clinics, so the community health workers play a key role in teaching their communities about health issues through home visits

IMC provided full and direct support to the midwifery training programmes in Nangarhar and Khost provinces and is in the process of establishing a midwife training programme in Parwan province. The aim is to make health care accessible for more women and children by providing adequately trained and qualified midwife nurses who can work in rural and urban health facilities

Supporting ex-child soldiers

In 2004, a UNICEF grant enabled IMC UK to help 3,500 demobilised former child soldiers throughout Afghanistan

IMC provided medical screening and primary healthcare to underage ex-combatants in DDR-targeted (Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration) demobilisation areas. DDR is integral to child protection by making it possible for children to return home, and to re-establish normal life for themselves and their communities

IMC support included diagnosing common illnesses such as malaria, gastro- intestinal parasites, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV-AIDS and urinary tract infection

Promoting mental health

Since the start of IMC's psychosocial support activities and mental health treatment programme in November 2002, over 30,000 women and girls have received mental health services through an initiative supported by Bristol Meyers Squibb

Additionally, nearly 100 health workers, health trainers and physicians have been trained on mental health needs

In order to more effectively serve Afghans suffering from mental health problems, IMC, worked closely with the Ministry of Health, to draft the national mental health policy and establishing a clinic-to-hospital referral system