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BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (July 22, 2008) - Like most of
Afghanistan's provinces, Konar has historically been unable to meet
the medical needs of its 381,000 residents. But the Konar
Provincial Reconstruction Team is working to meet those needs.
As recently as 2002 and shortly after the departure of the
Taliban, Afghanistan has faced some of the worst health statistics
ever recorded worldwide, including an infant mortality rate of 16.5
percent and 1,600 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births.
More than 25 percent of Afghan children die before their fifth
birthday.
In Konar, nearly 60 percent of the population lacked access to
any form of health services. The Konar PRT is one of 12 U.S.-led
partnership organizations working with the Afghan government to
rebuild the health care system and improve medical services.
Navy Lt. Gregory Monk, a Konar PRT physician assistant from
Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, Calif., has managed much of that
work in the province. His team of corpsmen includes Petty Officer
2nd Class Alexander Tabayoyon from Naval Air Station Fallon, Nev.;
Petty Officer 2nd Class Ixchel Mattes from Naval Hospital
Brementon, Wash.; and Seaman Leo Cedeno from Branch Clinic China
Lake, Calif.
Monk and his staff work closely with the provincial health
director, Dr. Asadullah Fazli, to assist in the implementation of
the Basic Package of Health Services. The BPHS is an Afghanistan
Ministry of Public Health strategy to provide a standardized
package of basic health services. The ministry, Dr. Fazli and Aide
Medicale International, with input from the PRT, use the BPHS to
identify districts with under-served populations and determine the
location for new facilities.
Aide Medicale International is an apolitical French humanitarian
organization that implements health care networks around the world.
The strategy was designed to increase access for people more than
two hours' walking distance from to public health ministry
facilities. After selecting the locations for the clinics, Monk
works with PRT engineers to solicit contract proposals and oversees
the quality of construction for the new buildings. Once the
building is constructed, AMI acquires the staffing, professional
medical training and supplies needed to run the clinics.
With the assistance of the PRT, 15 new health care facilities
are being added to the province. Fazli reported that six years ago,
the Konar health network consisted of only 12 low-quality clinics.
Now, the province has 24 health care facilities -- one provincial
hospital, nine comprehensive health clinics and 14 basic health
clinics -- and an additional 242 basic health posts.
Assisted by Afghan doctors, the PRT medical team conducted
village medical outreaches in the remote regions of Konar where
local clinics do not exist. On missions into the local communities,
they have treated Afghans for a variety of ailments. According to
Monk, worms and other intestinal illnesses were the main ailments
afflicting most of the people the team treated.
The community uses the Konar River, which flows through the
province, for everything: drinking, cooking, bathing, hygiene, and
even recreation. But the river is heavily contaminated with
pathogenic bacteria, parasites and viruses. Monk said almost
everyone he sees for evaluation complains of stomach pains.
"The stomach pains are commonly caused by worms or other
parasites, but chronic conditions, such as reflux disease, are just
as common," Mattes explained. "Education on simple acts of washing
hands and boiling water before use can prevent a majority of these
illnesses."
The regular engagements became less common, thanks to the
growing number of clinics and local doctors in the villages.
"It makes you feel good to go out and assist Afghan doctors in
remote villages that have zero access to medical treatment," Monk
said. "We hope that one day every community has its own clinic,
ultimately becoming less reliant on these outreach missions."
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