USAID accused of giving faulty GPS data for hospitals

KABUL facilities in western Herat province.

As a result, the hospitals are at risk of being struck just like the Doctors Without Borders trauma centre in northern Kunduz province, an American federal watchdog warned.

The US airstrike on the MSF hospital killed at least 30 doctors and patients on Oct. 3, triggering condemnation and calls for thorough and independent investigations.

SIGAR’s site inspections showed the location of the 23 facilities were up to six miles from the GPS coordinates given by USAID; seven were more than three miles from the coordinates and 16 were located less than three miles from the location data.

While stressing the need for accurate GPS coordinates for healthcare facilities, he wrote of the remaining 40 USAID-supported medical centres in Herat, SIGAR could only determine that 19 actually existed.

The site inspections also found at least 16 facilities disposed of medical waste in open-air kins, potentially exposing the public to the toxic material.

Sopko warned the faulty method of disposal did not conform to best practices and raised the risk that patients or children playing outside at several facilities could be accidentally exposed to contaminated waste.

mud