Nimroz villagers mourn lives lost to no health coverage

ZARANJ (Pajhwok): Tucked away 30 kilometers from Zaranj city, the capital of southwestern Nimroz province, Baynaz village is home to just a handful of families who are struggling to survive in mud houses on sun-scorched and barren land without even basic facilities.

The residents of this isolated settlement live under constant shadow of hardships, primarily due to the lack of basic public services—most critically, healthcare.

Despite the fact that healthcare is a fundamental human right, the elderly men and women of Baynaz lament long-standing neglect by successive governments. There is no clinic, no doctor, and no infrastructure to support even the most basic medical needs.

Polio’s toll on an unprotected generation

Among the most heartbreaking stories are those of children paralyzed due to the absence of polio vaccination.

Sadees, a young man from the village, drag two barrels of water back home. His labored movement is a stark reminder of a missed opportunity—he was born healthy but contracted polio at the age of six because there was no vaccination campaign in the village.

“In our village, there was no vaccine, no doctor, no clinic. If I had been vaccinated or if we had access to healthcare, I wouldn’t be like this,” he says, his voice trembling with emotion.

In the same courtyard, his sister Faiza, now 25, also lives with paralysis in one leg, similarly caused by lack of vaccination during childhood. She walks with the aid of a stick and shares that neither she nor her brother have gone to school or participated in community life due to their disabilities. “We don’t leave the house. We didn’t go to school. We’re illiterate,” she says quietly.

Their mother, Farzana, emerges from the house and joins the conversation. With a heavy heart, she says, “This isn’t a new problem. It’s been like this for years. Our village has been forgotten.”

She recounts the helplessness families face when someone falls ill: “If a child gets sick with diarrhea or vomiting, they die here. Pregnant women die on the way to the city. We’re poor and have no transport to reach the hospital.”

Farzana adds that even now, polio campaigns don’t reach Baynaz because the area is inaccessible by road and no health worker is willing to make the journey.

A mother’s grief

Gul Bashra, another villager, lost her 18-year-old daughter during childbirth. The young woman experienced severe bleeding but could not be transported to Zaranj because it was midnight and no vehicle was available. The family brought in a traditional midwife, but the bleeding worsened, and the young mother died.

“She had just gotten married. We did what we could, but could not save her,” Gul Bashra says, her voice cracking with sorrow. She adds that many other women in the village face a similar fate due to the absence of healthcare services.

“No government has helped us”

Fatima, another resident, echoes the community’s frustration: “There’s no clinic, no school, no road. We’ve been forgotten. No government has done anything for us.”

She warns that most childbirths in the village happen at home, often resulting in complications that put women’s lives at serious risk.

As a result of such hardships, 11 of the 25 original families in Baynaz have been forced to leave the village in search of a better life.

Ghulam Nabi, the head of the village council, confirms that the village lacks every basic facility. “We used to have 25 families. Now, only 14 remain. The rest migrated to Iran because of drought, unbearable heat, and child mortality.”

He adds, “Summers are brutal. Children get sick every day. There’s no doctor or medicine. In many cases, their illness becomes life-threatening.”

A broader crisis across Nimroz

Baynaz is not alone in this struggle. Residents of Ziyarat Sakhi (20 km from Zaranj) and Mawlawi (15 km from the city) face similar difficulties.

In Ziyarat Sakhi, Sayara Baloch explains how poverty and the absence of a local clinic prevented her from accessing medical help during childbirth. “I lost my baby after heavy bleeding during labor. By the time I got to the city, it was too late.”

She urges the government to establish at least a basic clinic or deploy mobile health teams to serve the village’s more than 50 families.

In Mawlawi village, Gul Bibi lost two grandchildren due to the lack of timely healthcare. “Last year, my grandson had severe diarrhea. We tried pharmacy medicine, but he died in the night from dehydration and heat. There was no one to help.”

Tears welling in her eyes, she pleads with the Islamic Emirate to send mobile health teams to rural communities.

Health officials: Resources limited

Dr. Yalda Fayaz Waseq, an obstetrician at Nimroz Provincial Hospital, acknowledges the crisis: “Most rural women give birth at home due to the distance to clinics. Without medical support, complications like bleeding and blood pressure issues become fatal.”

She notes that these maternal deaths often go unrecorded.

Maulavi Abdullah, director of Nimroz’s Public Health Department, concedes that previous governments did not prioritize these regions. While mobile health teams once visited remote areas with NGO support, those operations have now been scaled back.

He also confirmed the recent opening of a long-delayed 100-bed provincial hospital, built with assistance from an Arab charity.

“We aim to expand healthcare to remote areas,” Abdullah said, “but we need support from NGOs, local businesses, and the community. Many rural clinics exist, but doctors are unwilling to work in those conditions.”

sa/ma