Update from the field, Afghanistan

October 7, 2015

Last Saturday, 25 patients coming from ‪#‎Kunduz‬ and from Médecins sans Frontières’ Hospital – which was bombed by NATO on the same day – arrived at EMERGENCY’s Surgical Centre in Kabul.

19 of them have been hospitalised while 6 have been treated and discharged. EMERGENCY’s Surgical Centre in Kabul was already working in full capacity: during the previous 3 days 60 wounded arrived at the Centre, 320 during the previous month and 1,719 during the previous 5 months.

During the past few years the number of war-related admissions to our hospitals in Afghanistan has increased dramatically. Indeed, between 2010 and now hospitalisation in our war surgery hospitals is more than double.

The worsening of the security conditions in the country has also been registered by the United Nations. According to the last report issued by UNAMA (United Nation Assistance Mission in Afghanistan), during the first 6 months of 2015 there have been at least 4,921 war-related casualties. This is the highest number of casualties registered at this time of the year.

‘Our staff is working at full capacity without seeing an improvement in the situation. We hope that a snowy winter will decrease the fighting’ stated Luca Radaelli, EMERGENCY’s Programme Coordinator in ‪#‎Afghanistan‬.

‘After what happened to Médecins sans Frontières’ (‪#‎MSF‬) Hospital, we have written ‘EMERGENCY Hospital’ clearly on the roof of the new operating theatre as an additional security measure. What happened in Kunduz makes you feel that all of the humanitarian workers in this country are now even more vulnerable.’