Health
Groundwater wastage threatens the life of people: President Special Envoy
Special envoy of the President in reforms & good governance affairs has warned that unreasonable usage of groundwater have faced the country toward a humanitarian disaster.
Ahmad Zia Massoud, Special envoy of the President was speaking in the national groundwater conference has said that the level of groundwater have been decreased to two meters.
“We do not value these waters, a very huge humanitarian and social disaster will threat the live of people, during the last years people are digging deep wells and even they are using underground water for agriculture & irrigation, the water level have been decreased to two and half meters, and if it continues we will face underground water shortage in another five years,” Massoud said.
In addition, Water & Energy minister criticized the previous government water policy.
Ali Ahmad Osmani, Water & Energy minister said,” There are about 29 million cubic meter underground water and if we have the current negative decrease annually, our underground waters will be wasted in another fifteen years”.
Adding,” In our country, the government policy toward water resources has only focused on the surface waters not on the underground waters; if we are having negotiations with our neighbors we must raise the issues of underground waters too.”
Water & Energy minister warned contractor companies for negligence and unreasonable delays to build water and energy dams and insisted he will seriously follow these delays and will take action.
Reported by: Hameed Sediqi
Health
Ebad addresses gathering of health sector supporting organizations in Doha
The Minister of Public Health of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Qalandar Ebad on Thursday attended a meeting of health sector-supporting organizations in Doha, Qatar and spoke about the need to focus on certain areas of healthcare in the country.
In his speech, Ebad spoke of work needed to reform the health system, joint supervision, self-sufficiency of the health sector, standardization of health services at village and district level and provision of all-round health services.
He asked international colleagues in the field of health to work more on reducing administrative costs and delivering aid in a proper and correct manner.
Ebad said that if excessive administrative expenses are prevented, it will have a positive effect on the expenses in the field of health services.
He also emphasized that the release of the country’s frozen assets would be beneficial for the health sector especially for mothers and children.
It is a big and positive step for the independence of Afghanistan’s health system, development and standardization of health services, which should be taken by the international community, he said.
Health
Polio vaccination campaign underway in Afghanistan
The Ministry of Public Health, in cooperation with international institutions, on Monday launched the second sub-national polio vaccination campaign for 2024.
The campaign runs in different parts of the country from 26 to 29 February 2024, and aims to reach 7.6 million children below the age of five.
“We are committed to eradicating polio in Afghanistan with the cooperation of our partners. We are working day and night and continue supplementary polio vaccination campaigns and health care services in order to reach the goal of completely eradicating polio throughout the country,” Acting Public Health Minister Qalandar Ebad said.
“The support of all Afghans, especially elders and religious scholars, is important in polio eradication activities. It is necessary for them to participate in the fight against polio and keep their children healthy,” he added.
Polio is a viral disease that cannot be cured and can only be prevented and eradicated by vaccination.
Health
Over 286,000 afflicted with respiratory diseases since winter across Afghanistan: WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that since the beginning of 2024, more than 286,000 individuals have been afflicted with respiratory diseases across Afghanistan, among whom 668 have lost their lives.
On Saturday, the organization reported hundreds of deaths and infections due to respiratory illnesses across the country, coinciding with the onset of winter.
According to WHO, the increase in the number of individuals afflicted with respiratory diseases is due to cold weather conditions, affecting mostly children.
Based on the organization’s report, over 63 percent of the patients are children under five years old, with nearly 50 percent of them being women.
Earlier, WHO emphasized in a report that the average recorded statistics of respiratory illnesses in the country have increased compared to the same period in the years 2020 to 2022.
With the arrival of the cold season and increased air pollution, concerns regarding the spread of respiratory illnesses in the country have intensified.
-
Latest News4 days ago
Efforts underway to create agricultural complexes in country: Ministry
-
World4 days ago
Israeli strikes kill at least 29 Gazans awaiting aid, say Palestinian officials
-
Sport5 days ago
Rashid back in team for T20I series against Ireland
-
Science & Technology4 days ago
Study documents headaches experienced by astronauts in space
-
Regional4 days ago
Russia believed to have jammed signal on UK defence minister’s plane – source
-
Latest News4 days ago
It is wrong to differentiate between men and women in education: Hekmatyar
-
Latest News4 days ago
US not providing direct support to IEA: White House
-
Latest News4 days ago
One killed, two injured in fire at oil shop in Herat