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সহকারী অধ্যাপক
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১৮ আগস্ট, ২০২৩ ১১:২৫ অপরাহ্ণ
সহকারী অধ্যাপক
Red
Cross set to end funding at 25 hospitals in Afghanistan
The International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is likely to end the financial running of 25
Afghan hospitals by the end of August due to funding constraints, a
spokesperson told Reuters, amid growing concerns over a plunge in aid to
Afghanistan.
"Although we
continue to engage with government ministries, donors, and organisations to
find alternative sustainable support mechanisms for the hospital sector, the
phase-out of the Hospital Program is expected to happen tentatively at the end
of August," Diogo Alcantara, ICRC's spokesperson for Afghanistan, told
Reuters on Thursday.
"The ICRC does
not have the mandate nor the resources to maintain a fully functioning public
health-care sector in the longer term," Alcantara said.
In April, ICRC said
its governing board approved 430 million Swiss francs ($475.30 million) in cost
reductions over 2023 and early 2024 and a rolling back of operations in some
locations as budgets for humanitarian aid were expected to decrease.
"The financial
difficulties the ICRC is facing have sped up, in transparency with IEA (Islamic
Emirate of Afghanistan) authorities, the expected return of the full
responsibilities of the health services to the Ministry of Public Health,"
Alcantara said, referring to the Taliban administration.
The program's end
comes amid growing concerns over cuts to Afghanistan's humanitarian aid, two
years after the Taliban took over and most other forms of international
assistance, which formed the backbone of the economy, were halted.
The Geneva-based
organisation would continue its other Afghanistan health programs, including
rehabilitation support for people with disabilities.
A spokesman for the
Taliban-run Afghan health ministry did not respond to request for comment.
It was not clear how
much was needed to pay for the operations, which fund salaries and other costs
at many of Afghanistan's major hospitals serving millions of people, and if
Taliban authorities could cover that amount from the fiscal budget.
An Afghan finance
ministry spokesman said this year's budget had been finalised, but not publicly
released.
The hospitals have
been supported by ICRC since a few months after foreign forces left in August
2021.
Development funding
was cut to Afghanistan as the Taliban - which has not formally been recognised
by any country - took over the country. The sudden financial shock imperilled
critical public services including health and education.
The ICRC and other
agencies including the UN stepped in to try to fill gaps.
"The (ICRC) took
this decision back then to save the healthcare system from collapsing due to
the financial crises that Afghanistan was experiencing and because many
development agencies and other organisations left the country while the ICRC
stayed," Alcantara said.
The ICRC hospital
program had originally covered 33 hospitals, eight of which have already been
phased out, paying for the salaries of over 10,000 health workers and some
medical supplies.
The hospitals provided
thousands of beds and served areas encompassing more than 25 million people -
over half the population.
Neighbouring Pakistan
is closely watching the development, a senior government official told Reuters.
Pakistan, a major destination for healthcare for Afghans, routinely has
thousands of medical visa applications lodged with its embassy, officials said.
"We are concerned
about a further influx of medical patients," said the Pakistani official,
who declined to be identified to speak openly about sensitive diplomatic issues.
Pakistan's foreign
office did not reply to request for comment.
There is growing alarm
over cuts to aid to Afghanistan, where the U.N. humanitarian plan for 2023 is
only 25% funded, even after requested budget was downgraded from $4.6 billion
to $3.2 billion.
Diplomats and aid
officials say concerns over Taliban restrictions on women alongside competing
global humanitarian crises are causing donors to pull back on financial
support. The Taliban has ordered most Afghan female aid staff not to work,
though granted exemptions in health and education.
Almost three-quarters
of Afghanistan's population are now in need of humanitarian assistance,
according to the aid agencies.