HUMANITARIAN CRISIS: Doctors Without Borders mobilised to save lives in deadly Afghanistan quake aftermath

Doctors Without Borders has run projects in Afghanistan for more than 40 years and works with more than 2,500 staff in the region. In response to the most recent crisis, 20 personnel were dispatched to Barmal, in Paktika province, with support from a project team in Khost, according to Drossart.

The organisation is also supporting outpatient care, with a counsellor providing psychological first aid to survivors.The initial response to the crisis was geared towards trauma injuries, largely caused by collapsing houses during the earthquake. Now, just over a week later, the focus has shifted to primary healthcare stabilisation and prevention of infection, said Drossart.

In the aftermath of the earthquake that struck the provinces of Khost and Paktika in Afghanistan on Wednesday, 22 June, Doctors Without Borders has provided medical supplies and tents to health facilities in the districts of Gayan and Bermal. Doctors Without Borders is working to assess whether water infrastructure is still operational in the region, or if water sources have become contaminated. If needed, the organisation will work with other responders to provide temporary solutions to water shortages, said Drossart.

“The problem is that this requires, most of the time, more staff, more space, more resources, and we need also to have within our teams female medical staff, which in the remote areas is more difficult actually to find,” explained Drossart. “[The team members] are very motivated, definitely, to support the population affected by the earthquake, and we are working with all the rest of the MSF team in Afghanistan to organise a rotation of staff,” said Drossart.The problem of access to functional infrastructure predates the recent earthquake. In the remote areas of Afghanistan, communities often struggle to access healthcare and clean water, said Drossart.

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