ARCS assists more than 5m people in a year

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) provided health services to more than five million people, assisted more than one million vulnerable people and collected 116,259 beggars during the past one year, an official said on Saturday.

ARCS spokesman Maulvi Mudassir Hamraz briefed  journalists about the society’s last year’s activities at the Government Information and Media Center in Kabul.

He said ARCS also provided food, non-food and cash assistance to 1.43 million people vulnerable to natural and unnatural disasters across the country.

He added 22,735 flood-affected families in Baghlan province received humanitarian services.

During this period, 5.89 million people were provided with health services and they included 2212 children suffering from coronary heart disease.

According to him, the Afghan Red Crescent Society took care of 1,495 homeless people through five shelters in Balkh, Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar and Herat provinces, and in the past year, 8,110 homeless widows have been cared for through these shelters. Vocational training has been provided in tailoring, embroidery, carpet weaving and hand embroidery.

About beggars, he said, as per order of the IEA leadership, 116259 beggars were collected in the last one year and of them 30,543 beggars were identified as deserving, and they were supported by the Afghan Red Crescent Society.

A total of 53 million and 875,000 afghanis were given in assistance to the deserving beggars on monthly basis.

The ACRS spokesperson also said that in addition to 204 million afghanis in cash assistance to 24,000 homeless families in all provinces of the country, 2.432 million cash assistance was also given to 503 families in Kabul province.

According to Hamraz, 19 people with burn injuries and suffering from bone diseases were treated in Germany and have returned to the country.

Also, operational assistant to ARCS Secretary General Maulvi Abdul Latif Sabit said that currently 14,000 children suffering from heart defects were registered with them and 7,000 of them with complicated diseases should be sent to India and Germany for treatment.

He added that the entire cost of treating children with heart problems was paid by ARCS.

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