Bamyan
In December 2022, MSF started a community health care program in Bamyan, delivering health care services to remote and underserved districts in the province. We initially focused on mother and child health care, including obstetric and gynecological consultations, support for non-complicated deliveries, and outpatient services for children under five. We also worked to boost the provincial hospital’s capacity for treating measles and COVID-19 patients, a short-term project that has since ended.
In 2023, we saw significant needs for general outpatient services, prompting us to expand our services. We also began administering routine vaccinations to protect children from preventable diseases.
Helmand
MSF supports Boost provincial hospital in Lashkar Gah, offering a wide range of medical services, including emergency, pediatric, neonatal and maternal care, surgery, and internal medicine.
Our teams continued to witness the negative impact of poor access to health services in Helmand, with many patients traveling long distances from other provinces to reach the facility, sometimes arriving very late and in critical condition.
Herat
In Herat province, we work in the pediatric department at the regional hospital, supporting triage, the emergency room, inpatient and outpatient therapeutic feeding centers, the pediatric intensive care unit, and an intermediate care unit. In 2023, our teams admitted a large number of severely ill children to these units.
Our teams also run an outpatient clinic in Kahdestan in Injeel district, where we offer care for pregnant and lactating women and treatment for children with moderate acute malnutrition, as well as general health services.
Kabul
In 2023, we continued to treat patients with measles at Maiwand Teaching Hospital, mainly focusing on malnutrition. Our team increased the feeding center’s bed capacity from 34 to 47—the maximum the space would allow. Due to space constraints and a growing demand for inpatient care, MSF ended activities at the hospital on December 26, with a plan to relocate to another, larger facility in the capital.
We also maintained our assistance to the Afghan Midwives Association’s pilot project by offering funding and technical support for deliveries, pre- and postnatal care, and family planning.
Kandahar
In Kandahar, we run a comprehensive tuberculosis (TB) program, providing diagnosis and treatment for both drug-resistant and drug-sensitive forms of the disease. Our hospital has a laboratory, an outpatient clinic and a 24-bed inpatient department for patients with drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) and other illnesses, and for those who develop severe side effects after taking DR-TB medication.
In addition, we run a pediatric nutrition program with inpatient and outpatient departments.
Khost
In Khost, our 83-bed maternity hospital provides comprehensive emergency obstetric and neonatal care and a safe space for mothers with high-risk pregnancies and obstetric complications to deliver.
We also support eight health centers across the province, donating medicines and funding for additional midwives so that women with no risk factors for obstetric complications can give birth closer to home. In addition, we donate medicines and other supplies to Khost provincial hospital.
Kunduz
MSF’s Kunduz trauma center has an emergency room, intensive care unit, inpatient and outpatient departments, and operating theaters. The majority of admissions to the center are for people injured in accidents, but we also treat patients with violence-related trauma. In early 2023, we introduced an antibiotic stewardship program to monitor and treat infections, seeking to reduce the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance against first-line treatments in the community.
In Chardara, on the outskirts of the city, we run an outpatient health post where our teams stabilize trauma patients, administer routine vaccinations and general consultations for children under five, and offer nutritional support.
Mazar-i-Sharif
In August, we started activities in the pediatric department of Mazar-i-Sharif Regional Hospital in Balkh province. Our teams support the pediatric emergency room and run the neonatal ward and neonatal intensive care unit. We see thousands of critically ill children in the emergency room each month and admit hundreds of newborns to the neonatal intensive care unit.
