23 June 2010 - Two hospitals with a total bed capacity of 120 are being built in the eastern province of Paktya where health care is gaining ground.

Already home to three hospitals with a total bed capacity of 110, Paktya is about to more than double its hospital bed capacity with the ongoing construction of the two hospitals.

Under construction are the 100-bed provincial hospital funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at a cost of US$ 7 million; and the 20-bed hospital in Gardez city funded by the Bayat Foundation, a national humanitarian organization.

A 50-bed regional eye care hospital for Gardez city is also in the pipeline with funds committed by the Government of Pakistan.

At present, Paktya has a 50-bed hospital in Gardez, a 30-bed hospital in Chamkani district, and another 30-bed hospital in Zazi Aryoub district.

The provincial capital is also home to a regional tuberculosis centre supported by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Since 2001, with support from the international health care, there has been steady development of health facilities for the estimated provincial population of 390,000.

In 2001, there was only a single Mother Health Centre (MCH) funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). A child maternity centre was established in 2002; followed by the civilian hospital established in Gardez in 2003. Between 2004 and 2005, 18 district clinics were established across the province to provide basic health services to the people.

Recently, the Paktya Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) provided ten ambulances to the Paktya Department of Public Health.

A community midwife education programme had also been launched in Paktya as Afghanistan suffers from one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, with one in six women dying during childbirth.

Over the last four years, 100 students have graduated from the midwife education programme, coming from Paktya and its two neighbouring provinces, Ghazni and Paktika.

The national midwifery programme prepares competent and qualified midwives who return to their respective districts and provinces to provide the much-needed care to women in the villages.

By Dilawar Khan Dilawar, UNAMA