New Acting Health Minister Introduced, Pledges Reforms

In his first press conference, Ahmad Jawad Osmani, the newly appointed Acting Minister of Public Health, outlined his plans to reform the healthcare system and said effective plans are being made to fight the Coronavirus.
With the rise in the number of infected people, Osmani said a number of people who tested positive had to come back home as the hospital system is under a heavy burden.
He said home quarantine for such people was “painful.”
On his first working day, Osmani said that the health sector had failed to gain the trust of the public over the past two decades due to the poor quality of healthcare services, and that the health services’ capacity, especially in hospitals, had been much lower than needed during the Coronavirus pandemic.
The head of the MoPH, stressed that the MoPH’s work lies in three areas – the fight against Coronavirus, hospital system reforms, and healthcare reforms.

He said the ministry would be working on more practical and effective plans to provide a solution to fight against the virus. All the activities would be coordinated to increase the detection of the diseases.
Osmani said that COVID-19 centres and hospitals should turn into places where people can confidently quarantine themselves and prevent further infecting others.
He added that patients in hospitals should be provided with standard services that meet their satisfaction and saves their lives.
On the other hand, Firozuddin Firoz, the outgoing minister, mentioned his achievements at the ceremony. He lauded that during his tenure, they had built more than 400 health centres and reactive hospitals that had been lying vacant for several years.
He said that Afghanistan is currently facing major problems and all the attention is on the healthcare workers who must work hard.
So far, 17,267 people have tested positive for the virus in Afghanistan, of which 294 have died and more than 1,522 have recovered.