320-bed hospital, “Mother & child” founded in Balkh
The Afghan government started the construction of a new 253-bed mother and child hospital in Mazar-e Sharif’s regional hospital.
Funded by the German government, the new facility costs more than one billion AFN.
The new hospital will provide appropriate health care for mothers and children living in Balkh and neighboring provinces. The German government provides funding at a cost of more than AFN 1 billion.
Addressing the ground-breaking ceremony, Afghan Minister of Public Health Ferozuddin Feroz said: “Upon completion of this hospital’s construction, access of health services to mothers and children living in Balkh and nearby provinces will be considerably improved.”
Alexander Fierley, the Deputy German Consul added: “The mother and child hospital will be an important step in fighting child diseases as well as mother and child mortality. We encourage the Afghan authorities to manage the hospital sustainably.” Quoted from (Wadsam).
The new mother and child hospital will provide adequate obstetrics, gynecology and pediatric medical services in three different blocks.
After the construction’s completion, the hospital will be equipped with ultrasound, neonatal incubators, patient monitors, X-ray shield, surgical instruments, patient beds, etc.
The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) is responsible for the construction of the mother and child hospital; the provincial Health Department is closely monitoring the process. It is estimated that the new mother and child hospital will be handed over to the authorities by August 2018.
The construction of the mother and child hospital in Mazar-e Sharif is part of the Afghan-German Cooperation’s effort to improve health care in Northern Afghanistan. Since 2006, KfW has implemented projects to expand and modernize the country’s health care infrastructure: Apart from the rehabilitation of Balkh’s regional hospital in Mazar-e Sharif, Badakhshan’s provincial hospital in Feyzabad, Kunduz’ regional hospital and several other district hospitals as well as basic and comprehensive health centers have been newly constructed or rehabilitated.
