We Are Not Abandoning Afghanistan.
A year ago, the eyes of the world were on Afghanistan.
That attention was short-lived. Today, Afghanistan is a country abandoned by the international community, experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis, with increasing poverty and crime. According to the United Nations, at least 59% of the population is in need of humanitarian assistance and more than 23 million Afghans are at risk of severe food insecurity.
These are the consequences of decades of war. A very long conflict that, besides claiming hundreds of thousands of victims, has undermined the future of the country.
This is the situation we see from our hospitals, where we continue to do what we have been doing every day since 1999: treating those in need. We have done it more than 100,000 times this past year and we will continue.
We are not abandoning Afghanistan.
Figures from our hospitals
In the last few year we have seen more than 16,000 admissions to our hospitals in Kabul, Lashkar-Gah and Anabah and done over 90,000 check-ups at our 42 First Aid Posts.
Kabul alone accounted for 30,000 of these admissions; more than 90% of the patients in question were war victims, with wounds from gunshots, bladed weapons, mines and improvised explosive devices.
“By no means have Afghanistan’s problems disappeared along with the foreign troops. This year as before, we have seen civilians killed and wounded, a people ground down by poverty and the knowledge that they have been abandoned by the rest of the world. EMERGENCY will stay here and strive to provide aid to the Afghan people, just as we have done for more than 20 years unbroken.”
Rossella Miccio, President of EMERGENCY
One year on, war has officially ended but its victims are still with us
“At our Surgical Centre for War Victims in Kabul, we have people coming in every day with wounds from gunshots, shrapnel, bladed weapons, above all knives, mines and improvised explosive devices. The country is feeling the effects of a protracted conflict that has destroyed the foundations of its future.”
Stefano Sozza, Country Director for EMERGENCY in Afghanistan
In Kabul
Of the more than 3,000 patients admitted to our Kabul hospital since August 2021, in fact, more than 93.5% have been war victims.
Over 2,000 of the patients (80%) had gunshot wounds but others had been cut or stabbed: a result of the rise in crime. In line with previous trends, 5% were admitted for injuries from mines or unexploded ordnance.
Over 400 cases (30%) were children (under the age of 18).
“Often children arrive wounded in groups, having been caught in explosions after finding devices in the ground while they were playing, or rummaging in bins for food. In their hands, this kind of unexploded ordnance often leaves them with debilitating injuries.”
Stefano Sozza, Country Director for EMERGENCY in Afghanistan
The capital has not been free of attacks since August 2021, carried out particularly by terrorists against places of worship and schools; they may operate in armed groups or set off improvised explosive devices.
Already in 2022 our Surgical Centre for War Victims in Kabul has seen 14 mass casualties with a total of 208 injured people; five were in April and four in just the first week of August.
In Helmand
In Helmand, one of the hotspots of fighting just before the war’s end, we are working out of our First Aid Posts and our Surgical Centre in Lashkar-Gah.
We are continuing to train our staff so that they can adapt to new realities and the needs arising among the Afghan people.
Panjshir Valley
Here at Anabah in the Panjshir valley, our Surgical Centre and Maternity Centre are still hard at work, serving a local population who have been pushed to breaking point and whose medical needs are as pressing as ever.
