Responding to COVID-19 in Afghanistan

Saving Lives at FMIC during Covid-19 Pandemic

This report is in continuation of previous report responding to COVID-19 in Afghanistan, which mainly focuses on how to reduce the COVID-19 effects on people with the collaboration of Ministry of Public Health, FMIC will provide free vaccination for the 3 category group who are Medical Staff, Teachers and Media Staff.

Report Focus:

The project will focus on reducing the impact of COVID-19 through proper vaccination, awareness raising and capacity building. For the people as there are some rumors about the side effects of the vaccine and the FAQs. FMIC will provide vaccination for these 3 category people. Besides that, FMIC will raise awareness among local communities to be stronger and to come for the vaccination when their turn arrives, this should not be a challenge.

Introduction about FMIC:

FMIC is product of a four-way unique partnership between two governments and two international NGOs including the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). For the past 14 years, FMIC has been serving the healthcare needs of Afghans while focusing quality services, innovation and building capacities in terms of human resources and technology.

People affected and Died during Covid-19:

According to Aljazeera news in August last year, a health ministry survey revealed that 10 million people – nearly a third of the country’s population – had been infected with the coronavirus.
The country of 32 million people has limited testing capacity, but recent months have seen a decline in new infections, with officials registering more than 55,300 confirmed cases so far and nearly 2,400 deaths.

People Vaccinated at FMIC till date:

Till today FMIC has vaccinated 667 staff with the first dose of the vaccine which was donated from the Ministry of Public Health, vaccine name is AstraZeneca 0.5ML.

Challenge during the pandemic:

COVID-19 has had grave consequences for people’s health and income, and the cost of basic essentials has increased dramatically, leaving at least a third of the population faced with food shortages and malnutrition on the rise. Afghanistan now has the second highest number of people in crisis or emergency food insecurity (16.9 million people) and close to one in two children under the age of five are predicted to face acute malnutrition this year.

FMIC ensures that its quality services are accessible to all in a resource-blind fashion.

Your Kind Contribution:

Your little contribution is a ray of hope for many Afghans who have difficulties accessing a high quality healthcare facility mainly due to lack of money. FMIC makes sure that your generous contribution is spent in the most appropriate manner to support those patients who come from very weak financial backgrounds.

Patient Welfare Program at FMIC:

The Patient Welfare Program is in place since the establishment of FMIC and has so far supported patients in need with a financial impact of over 40 Million USD. The journey continues.
On a daily basis, FMIC ensures that no patient leaves the hospital untreated because of lack of money. For many patients, even a $10 expense is an obstacle to healthcare. Envision a child or mother suffering from life-threatening diseases in an impoverished and war-affected zone. Imagine that just a few dollars contributed by you can help save lives and improve quality of life for many. For example, $10 will pay for an initial visit to a doctor, $15 will pay for one-night stay of a patient in general ward, $65 will pay for one night stay of a patient in the Intensive Care Unit.  We do appreciate your continued support and cooperation! 

https://www.fmic.org.af/Pages/Home.aspx
FMIC Official Website
FMIC Facebook Page
FMIC LinkedIn

For the past 14 years, FMIC has been serving the healthcare needs of Afghans while focusing quality services, innovation and building capacities in terms of human resources and technology. FMIC is product of a four-way unique partnership between two governments and two international NGOs including the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).

For the past 20 years, AKDN is supporting the Government of Afghanistan to unlock the tremendous human capacity and natural resources that exist is this country- through a multi-input approach, combining economic development, health, education, strengthening communities, and restoring cultural heritage sites. In February 2020, when faced with the impending pandemic that COVID-19 was expected to become, it was only natural that our response would leverage the multi input platforms that already existed. Recognizing that the health care systems in every part of the world were struggling, we anticipated that the still developing health care system in Afghanistan would face considerable challenges in coping with the pandemic. Our immediate response was to follow the governments lead in terms of its COVID response and planning, and also follow World Health Organization and AKDN global advisories. It was clear very early on that prevention and stopping the spread were going to be key for Afghanistan. Initial planning started by focusing on safe-guarding our large work-force in Afghanistan, followed by pivoting all AKDN agencies towards prevention messaging.

We adapted the AKDN global framework to the Government’s 8 pillar framework and worked closely with the Ministry of Public Health to ensure that our response supported their efforts. We were able to do many things together, for example, opening a COVID testing lab at French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children (FMIC) and accelerating capacity in Bamyan and Badakhshan, the two provinces where Aga Khan Health Services manages health care under Sehatmandi, for anticipated COVID critical care needs.

As with many hospitals around the world, FMIC did not have the capacity to fully convert into a specialized infectious disease specialty that would be required to manage COVID. It immediately developed digital and print COVID-19 precautions and awareness campaigns. This was shared across all FMIC and AKDN platforms, in a variety of local languages. Over 150,000 people, including staff across the AKDN, benefited through this initiative. To protect patients coming to the hospital for regular treatment and services, FMIC developed pre-triage infection control facilities at two entrance points to hospital. This has kept FMIC COVID-19 free, with patients with symptoms being referred to other hospitals with specialized COVID facilities. The FMIC special Infection Controlmeets daily to assess situation. In late May, FMIC inaugurated new testing lab in partnership with MoPH and WHO Afghanistan to support testing capacity in Afghanistan. Later, once non-government hospitals were permitted to treat COVID patients, FMIC established a small 20 bed COVID treatment facility in a separate compound, maintaining the main hospital as a COVID-free facility. In partnership with AKU, WHO Afghanistan and MoPH, provided in person and on-line training to staff at various hospitals including the Afghan Japan hospital, at the request of Japanese International Cooperation Agency.

While much emphasis was placed on COVID, FMIC was called upon to undertake a very difficult surgery. Nafisa (pseudonym), a four-hour baby was shot in the leg at an attack on a maternity hospital. She was brought to FMIC where a team worked to save her. In the process, this team had to create knowledge about treatment of infants in war zones, and is currently completing an article on this.

FMIC ensures that its quality services are accessible to all in a resource-blind fashion. The Patient Welfare Program is in place since the establishment of FMIC and has so far supported patients in need with a financial impact of around 40 Million USD. The journey continues.

Your little contribution is a ray of hope for many Afghans who have difficulties accessing a high quality healthcare facility mainly due to lack of money. FMIC makes sure that your generous contribution is spent in the most appropriate manner to support those patients who come from very weak financial backgrounds.

On a daily basis, FMIC ensures that no patient leaves the hospital untreated because of lack of money. For many patients, even a $10 expense is an obstacle to healthcare. Envision a child or mother suffering from life-threatening diseases in an impoverished and war-affected zone. Imagine that just a few dollars contributed by you can help save lives and improve quality of life for many. For example, $10 will pay for an initial visit to a doctor, $15 will pay for one-night stay of a patient in general ward, $65 will pay for one night stay of a patient in the Intensive Care Unit.  We do appreciate your continued support and cooperation!  

Links:

• FMIC YouTube Channel
• FMIC LinkedIn
• FMIC Facebook page