There are no restrictions on the activities of female health workers in Afghanistan/ Ministry of Health emphasizes on providing health services in deprived and remote areas

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Tehran: The first empowerment program in the field of governance and management of the health system, as well as the 26th meeting of senior experts of G5 countries (Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Iraq) in the field of health system cooperation, this Saturday morning on May 6, with the presence of the Ministries of Public Health of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, as well as the Deputy Minister of Health of Iraq, officials of the World Health Organization and the United Nations, it started working in Tehran's Esteghlal Hotel. This meeting will continue for 4 days until May 10. Dr. Qalandar Ebad, Acting Minister of Public Health of the Islamic Emirate, arrived in Tehran on Friday, May 5, at the head of a delegation to participate in this meeting.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of this meeting, Dr. Qalandar Ebad said: This meeting is very important for the exchange of new information and experiences between the member countries so that we can establish a structural and scientific relationship.
He stated that the countries of the G5 have common issues and added, for this reason, the roots of the diseases that threaten these countries are also common, so holding such meetings and exchanging experiences and discussions in cases that require joint measures can help all these countries to deal with problems and remove obstacles.
Acting Minister of Public Health of the Islamic Emirate has emphasized that this ministry is trying to create justice and equality in the field of providing health services in the field of health care based on the evaluations it has made. Although Afghanistan is facing many problems, we hope that with the cooperation of the G5 and other international partners, we will be able to make good achievements, especially considering the limited resources we have.
For example, he mentioned the problems and achievements in the field of Covid-19 and polio, which were able to take positive actions with international cooperation. In fact, Covid-19, malaria, Congo fever, Burma and polio are diseases that we face not only in Afghanistan, but can also spread to neighboring countries, so it is very important to contain them. We implemented a program for polio vaccination of children under 5 years of age, in the case of Covid-19, we were able to cover 97% of the country with vaccines, in 23 months we managed to limit malaria and cholera, spread awareness about health.
Pointing out that 50% of Afghanistan's population lives in remote areas, Dr. Ebad emphasized that in the field of health services, the Ministry of Public Health has paid special attention to deprived and remote areas in order to expand the supply of these services.
Stating that the health workers of this ministry are very active and hardworking, he pointed out the rumors on social networks that female health workers cannot enter the communities and provide services, while according to him, all these are rumors and this ministry has female doctors and health care service providers who continue their activities in the community.
But the Acting Ministry of Public Health stated that the challenges we are facing in Afghanistan are very wide, we still have a long way to go and the coverage of services in our country is not very high, the maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan is the highest in region, that's why we have to overshadow the 35 million population of Afghanistan and pay special attention to this issue. 50% of our population lives in remote areas that do not have access to health services. This amount is even higher than in India. We ask our health sector partners to support us to improve our health system and be able to respond quickly to health needs.
He called for support and technical assistance from the member countries of the Group of 5, the World Health Organization and other UN agencies to the Afghan health system and to provide the necessary training in this field.
Dr. Ebad asked the World Health Organization to invite the Ministry of Public Health of Afghanistan to participate in international meetings so that they can exchange experiences and improve their work.
He invited other countries in the region to join the group 5 in the field of health.
Acting Ministry of Public Health thanked the Islamic Republic of Iran for hosting this meeting and expressed hope that other meetings of Group 5 will be held in other member countries and Afghanistan is also ready to host these meetings.
He expressed his hope that at the end of each meeting of Group 5, decisive and coherent decisions will be made so that they can proceed based on it and realize the future goals.
Dr. Qalandar Ebad also said about the meeting with the Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Iran for Women's Affairs, this meeting was a successful meeting. They should travel to Afghanistan in the near future and see the health departments closely.
Regarding the issue of sending female medical students from Afghanistan to Iran, he said that not only with Iran, but also with other countries in the region, they have similar plans to increase the capacity of our doctors and health workers within the framework of the laws of the Islamic Emirate.