AGICH service improves, struggling with personnel shortage

KABUL (Pajhwok): More patients have been referring to the Andria Ghandi Institute of Child Health (AGICH) in capital Kabul which created personnel shortage problem for the hospital administration while the availability of medicines have improved from 20 to 80 percent.

Built around 50 years ago, the hospital has 350 beds and offered health service in general surgery, general internal diseases, emergency, skin, ear and nose, physiotherapy, laboratory, Endoscopy, ultra sound, GCC and others.

Dr. Mohammad Arif Hasanzai, in-charge of the internal disease section of the hospital, said he served in the hospital from over 40 years, adding that during this period he witness political changes but the health sector never stopped and they served the people.

He said after political change in the country in August 2021, several changes had occurred in the hospital and one of these changes were the provision of freed medicines.

Without going into the detail, he said 80 percent medicines were provided to the patients by the hospital while the remaining was brought from the outside by patients’ visitors.

He said UNECIF, ICRC and India helped the hospital in the provision of medicines for patients.

Referring to suitable environment available for doctors and nurses, he said: “Before the takeover of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan powerful individuals used to bring their patients, they threatened our personnel and even beaten them, the window mirrors of the hospital were broken and the overall all operation of the hospital was affected but after the political change these issues had been resolved and now we have no problem.”

He said during spring season daily up to 800 patients referred to the hospital and during winter season around 2,000 patients, including 100 serious patients, referred to the hospital for treatment.

He said besides the patients of seasonal disease such as TB in winter, diarrhea in summer other patients suffering from heart disease, malnutrition, ear and nose, skin, Orthopedic, new born and surgery also referred to the hospital for treatment.

Mohammad Iqbal Sadiq, internal disease expert and head of the hospital, said they were faced with the shortage of personnel in the hospital adding that the current personnel struggle to address the problems of patients.

He said currently 721 personnel, including specialist doctors, experts, trainers, trainees, nurses, workers and cleaners were serving.

He said current hospital personnel is supposed to meet the burden of 350 patients daily but due to growing population in Kabul they received up to 500 patients daily.

Dr. Sadiq said in the future they planned to increase the number of patients keeping in mind the growing number of patients that referred to the hospital daily.

He said the service had improved and 80 percent medicines were provided free of cost to the patients from the hospital. Majority of the tests were also conducted in the hospital, he added.

He said with the availability of simple, color x-ray machines, detrital and city scan machines patients did not need to go outside and all relevant test were conducted inside the hospital.

Are people satisfied?

Shah Bibi, the mother of a 6-year-old girl who is hospitalized due to malnutrition from the past eight days, said: “My daughter suffered from bones weakness and diarrhea. I brought her here and the doctor said she should be hospitalized.”

Noor Bibi, the mother of a 10-year-old boy hospitalized, was happy about the services offered to her patient and said: “My son’s brain got infected and could not be treated in Paktia. We are hospitalized here from the past 20 days and he is doing well.”

She said that most of the medicines were provided to her from inside the hospital and all the medical tests were also conducted inside the hospital.

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