Hospital gets life-saving equipment

KABUL (IOM) on Wednesday said it had handed over “life-saving medical equipment” worth $52,000 to the Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital in Kabul.

The Japanese-funded equipment delivered to the 350-bed hospital could benefit 600 patients daily and would be used to carry out advanced laboratory testing and surgical procedures for mothers-to-be, newborns and children, the IMO said in a statement.

“This equipment is scientifically proven to decrease costs, save time, minimise errors and improve productivity in a hospital,” the statement said, adding the donation was part of IOM’s Return of Qualified Afghans (RQA) programme.

The programme is aimed to contribute to nation-building and the rehabilitation of social services by facilitating the return of skilled Afghans from all over the world.

Still amongst the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world, in Afghanistan, at least one woman in 50 dies while giving birth. The number of children who die before the age of 5 is about one in 10.

The IOM said 1,365 Afghan experts, including 200 women, who lived abroad between 2002 and ¬2013 had returned to Afghanistan from more than 30 countries to participate in rebuilding their nation.

pr/ma

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