Most patients go abroad for treatment: Haqjo

KABUL Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) on Tuesday said nearly 2,000 Afghans daily travelled abroad for treatment due to lack of standard facilities at home.

ACCI chief executive Mohammad Qurban Haqjo said Afghan patients spent $2,000 to $10,000 on their treatment in hospitals in foreign countries, particularly in Pakistan and India.

Addressing a gathering marking the launch of an international health exhibition in Kabul, Haqjo said Afghanistan still lagged behind in providing its citizens with standard hospitals and quality health services.

He said only eight pharmaceutical companies were operational in Afghanistan and most medicine were imported from abroad amid supplies of expired and low quality stuff.

“Capsules made of chickpea flour are being imported to Afghanistan which cannot treat any disease,” Haqjo noted.

Dr. Ahmad Naeem, deputy public health minister, said a survey by the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 2010 showed five percent medicines in Afghanistan were of low quality or expired.

He said the ministry had launched efforts to address the problem of expired and low quality medicines, calling on traders to invest more in the sector.

Various companies have put on display their products at the three-day show attended by a large number of people on the first day.

mrh/ma

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