Who Warns That It Only Has Medical Supplies in Afghanistan for a Week

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned this Tuesday that it only has medical supplies in Afghanistan for a week, unable to get supplies into the country, at a time when needs are mounting due to violence and chaos in Kabul.

“Right now WHO only has enough supplies in the country for a week,” said the regional director of the organization for the Eastern Mediterranean, Ahmed al Mandhari, in a virtual press conference.

Al Mandhari explained that more than 500 metric tons of medical supplies destined for the Asian country are blocked in Dubai, due to the impossibility of sending them by air due to the chaotic situation at the airport in Acceptance.

This shortage, added the regional director, coincides with an increase in needs in the country due to the latest events.

The WHO He fears that there will be a new spike in Covid-19 infections, due to the movement of internally displaced persons, which could lead to further transmission of the virus.

Until last week, 158,600 accumulated cases had been registered in Afghanistan since the beginning of the pandemic and the number of new daily infections was decreasing, although only 5% of the population, about two million people, is vaccinated.

On the other hand, the agency indicated that it has received reports of an increase in cases of diarrhea, high blood pressure, complications in reproductive health, malnutrition, trauma and emergencies.

Its regional director of Emergencies, Richard Brennan, indicated that the WHO has received offers of flights to take the blocked material to Afghanistan and that he expected to have “encouraging news” about it “in the next two days.”

For his part, the WHO representative in the Asian country, Dapeng Luo, said that the Taliban are currently supporting the organization’s work and are not pressuring its staff, despite which some of its female employees had not come. to work, and had even resigned, “due to the insecurity situation.”

WHO currently has 684 people working in 34 provinces of the country, which before the current crisis broke out, was already the scene of the third largest humanitarian operation in the world due to “war, displacement, drought, hunger and, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic, “said Dapeng.

He also admitted that, although both men and women were making use of their services, “some patients fear leaving home unless they are in life-threatening conditions.”

Brennan stressed that the Taliban “have made it clear that they want the United Nations to stay and (want) the continuation of health services,” and that the radical movement’s health commissioner met on Monday with international organizations that operate in this sector and encouraged them to stay in the country.