Primary Health Care in Afghanistan
type: CreativeWork
description: Afghanistan is a landlocked and mountainous country, the country shares its border with six different countries, namely, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and China. The longest country to border Afghanistan is Pakistan (at 2,430 kilometers), whereas the smallest is China (at 76 kilometers) . The majority of the population lives in the most remote rural and mountainous areas. The primary health care system has similar problems to other civil sectors of the country due to the last three decades of war. Consequently, most people in the provinces of Afghanistan do not have access to primary health care due to lack of professional health care, hospitals, clinics, poverty, and finally lack of road infrastructure from one province to another province. The Afghan government tried to solve this problem by creating and implementing the Basic Package Health Service (BPHS) and later the Essential Package Health Service (EPHS) which were designed after the fall of Taliban regime in 2001. These programs represent important elements in the development of the health care system of Afghanistan in order to deliver primary health care services to Afghans in every part of the country. However, many obstacles exist that prevent the complete implementation of these programs throughout country. In the author’s experience as a medical student in 2008 in 10 hospitals in Kabul, there is lack of security, hospitals, medical equipment, and basic diagnostic and treatment services. In addition, the staffs are poorly managed and there is poor coordination between hospital systems, limited financial resources, and lack of professional personnel, especially female health care workers. In order to solve these problems, the Afghan government must build hospitals in remote areas and allocate enough funds for the health sector in rural areas. In addition, it should provide short-term and long-term training for women in nursing and midwifery in the provinces of rural areas, and prov…
abstract: Afghanistan is a landlocked and mountainous country, the country shares its border with six different countries, namely, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and China. The longest country to border Afghanistan is Pakistan (at 2,430 kilometers), whereas the smallest is China (at 76 kilometers) . The majority of the population lives in the most remote rural and mountainous areas. The primary health care system has similar problems to other civil sectors of the country due to the last three decades of war. Consequently, most people in the provinces of Afghanistan do not have access to primary health care due to lack of professional health care, hospitals, clinics, poverty, and finally lack of road infrastructure from one province to another province. The Afghan government tried to solve this problem by creating and implementing the Basic Package Health Service (BPHS) and later the Essential Package Health Service (EPHS) which were designed after the fall of Taliban regime in 2001. These programs represent important elements in the development of the health care system of Afghanistan in order to deliver primary health care services to Afghans in every part of the country. However, many obstacles exist that prevent the complete implementation of these programs throughout country. In the author’s experience as a medical student in 2008 in 10 hospitals in Kabul, there is lack of security, hospitals, medical equipment, and basic diagnostic and treatment services. In addition, the staffs are poorly managed and there is poor coordination between hospital systems, limited financial resources, and lack of professional personnel, especially female health care workers. In order to solve these problems, the Afghan government must build hospitals in remote areas and allocate enough funds for the health sector in rural areas. In addition, it should provide short-term and long-term training for women in nursing and midwifery in the provinces of rural areas, and prov…
author: Akram, Mohammad Faeez
keywords: Primary Health Care System in Afghanistan
date published: 2012-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:11:36Z
provider: University of Montana
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Montana