Badghis residents lament lack of female doctors

QALA-I-NAW (Pajhwok): A number of women in remote districts of western Badghis province have complained about lack of female doctors and asked the government to address the issue.

Provincial Public Health officials also acknowledge the problem of lack of female doctors and say they have been given measures in this regard.

The women in remote districts say they have to travel a long distance and spend a lot of money to reach the provincial hospital in Qala-i-Naw.

Fatema, 22, a resident of Langar area in Qados district, complained about the lack of female doctors and said she was forced to travel to the provincial hospital for her childbirth.

Fatema added her cousin died while giving birth to her child due to lack of female specialist doctor and midwife.

She added that the problem of lack of female doctors persisted for many years and the previous government did not pay attention to it as well.

Fatema urged the Islamic Emirate to pay serious attention to this problem and employ female doctors.

Zarigul, a relative of a patient in Qala-i-Naw, said she traveled for one day and night to reach the provincial hospital.

According to her, due to lack of gynecologist in Jund district, sometimes women lose their lives or babies during childbirth.

She urged the caretaker government to hire female doctors in the health centres and save pregnant mothers’ lives.

She said: “We don’t have a gynecologist in our area, the roads are not good, there are no cars, and every time we get sick, we have to rent a car to take us to the city hospital.”

However, experts believe that most gynecological diseases require urgent treatment and should be referred to a gynecologist in the shortest possible time.

Dr. Mitra Rahmani, a gynecologist and obstetrician at Badghis Provincial Hospital, told Pajhwok that most women’s illnesses were such that they should be taken the doctor in less than an hour.

She asked the Islamic Emirate and other responsible institutions to hire female specialists in medical centers in all parts of Badghis so that all sick women can access them as soon as possible.

Dr. Ajab Khan Hamidi, Deputy Director of Public Health of Badghis, confirmed the lack of female doctors in the province.

Although all the positions of gynecologists are vacant and have been announced many times, no gynecologists have been hired yet.

sa/ma