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The Afghan government must immediately address oxygen shortages and procure adequate Covid-19 vaccines and other essential medical supplies with the support of the international community, said Amnesty International, with the war-torn country showing worrying signs a sharp increase in infections.
On June 7, Afghan authorities reported that out of a total of 4,671 Covid-19 tests performed in the previous 24 hours, 1,582 (nearly 34%) had tested positive.
The number of Covid-19 cases in Afghanistan has continued to increase and these latest figures are very worrying. It is clear that the country has been hit by the third wave of Covid-19 and without urgent international support to contain this surge the situation could quickly spiral out of control, with existing shortages of vital supplies posing serious challenges, Zaman Sultani said. . , South Asia researcher at Amnesty International.
The number of Covid-19 cases in Afghanistan has steadily increased and these latest figures are very worrying
Zaman Sultani, South Asia researcher at Amnesty International
At the same time, the vaccination campaign in Afghanistan has also been delayed due to supply shortages. We have seen a similar situation unfold in Nepal and India and one of the main lessons is to learn from their mistakes and prepare for the worst before it is too late.
Lack of preparation by the Afghan government
More than a year after the start of the pandemic, the government’s emergency preparedness remains insufficient. According to the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Afghanistan currently only has around 2,000 oxygen concentrators and 1,063 hospital beds dedicated to Covid-19 treatment to serve a population of 39 million. According to the Ministry of Health, the country has only a total of 1,500 intensive care beds.
On June 4, the health ministry reported that the country was facing an oxygen shortage and appealed for support from other countries in the region. Local media have reported that more than 50% of people hospitalized with Covid-19 need oxygen. On June 8, a health ministry official told Amnesty: I don’t want to give any false hope. We have handled the situation for now, but if it gets worse it would be really difficult [without oxygen].
This situation is more difficult at the provincial level. According to Zaman Muradi, a human rights activist in Daikundi province, the province has only one Covid-19 treatment center and no Covid-19 testing facility. Muradi said it takes about a day to travel to Bamiyan or Kabul to get a test. According to the WHO, only 22 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces have laboratory facilities for Covid-19 testing.
On June 10, the UN Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan announced on Twitter that the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF had provided Afghanistan with 3,750 oxygenators and that ten Oxygen plants would also be supplied to Afghanistan by UN agencies.
Afghanistan’s lack of emergency preparedness and the state of public health infrastructure mean the country is not equipped to deal with the kind of surge we’ve seen elsewhere in the region. Afghanistan needs to make diagnostics widely available to effectively detect outbreaks and proactively deal with an impending outbreak of cases, Zaman Sultani said.
On June 6, a public health official in Balkh province, home to one of Afghanistan’s largest cities and a population of 1 to 1.3 million, told Amnesty that the province had around 140 beds reserved for patients with Covid-19.
The current wave poses an even greater risk of infection for the four million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Afghanistan, who live in conditions of overcrowding, with insufficient access to water, sanitation and water. sanitation and health facilities. In March 2021, Amnesty International issued a briefing note calling on the Afghan government and the international community to urgently step up targeted support efforts for this highly vulnerable group.
During this crisis, the Afghan government must ensure that displaced people have access to health care, sanitation and safe drinking water and develop a plan that prioritizes immunization of the displaced, including the conditions life makes them extremely vulnerable to a highly infectious virus like Covid-19, Zaman Sultani said.
Shortage of vaccines
Sufficient budget should already exist to immunize 40 percent of the population, 50 percent of which is covered by the COVAX facility – a global initiative to help low- and middle-income countries access vaccines, according to a World Bank announcement. – and the other half covered by funds from the World Bank and the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund. The Asian Development Bank has also committed around US $ 50 million to support vaccinations and other programs related to Covid-19.
However, to date, Afghanistan has received 968,000 doses of vaccine from the Indian government and the COVAX facility, which can only fully inoculate 484,000 of the 39 million Afghanistans, which is only 1.24%. of its population.
Afghanistan’s lack of emergency preparedness and the state of public health infrastructure mean the country is not equipped to deal with the kind of surge we’ve seen elsewhere in the region.
Zaman Sultani
Local media reported on June 10 that Afghanistan had received 700,000 doses of vaccine from China. However, Amnesty International spoke with an official from the Ministry of Health, who could not provide an exact date for the next delivery of COVAX vaccines. The next delivery is tentatively scheduled for August.
On June 3, President Ghani belatedly announced that the Afghan government would purchase more supplies, but did not provide any details on when these would be secured and delivered. Given the current global vaccine shortage and the inability of COVAX to be delivered to other countries on time, there are great concerns about whether and how quickly further doses will arrive in Afghanistan.
According to the WHO, as of May 29, 2021, 609,440 people had been vaccinated in Afghanistan. Of this figure, 480,709 people had received their first vaccine and 128,731 people had received both doses.
The Afghan authorities, with the support of the international community and the COVAX program, should work to procure the required vaccines either through existing funding and support mechanisms or through the government budget, said Zaman Sultani.
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