Four Health Clinics Opened in Northern Afghan Balkh Province

Excerpt from report by state-owned Afghan Balkh Province television on 15 December

[Presenter] The Afghan health minister has inaugurated four hospitals in Mazar-e Sharif. Germany, Korea and France have funded the hospitals.

[Reporter] Public Health Minister Dr Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatemi has inaugurated four health clinics costing 3m dollars in Mazar-e Sharif.

Germany has funded construction of a 60-bed hospital in Mazar-e Sharif costing nearly 2m dollars. According to doctors, the hospital is equipped with modern equipment.

Meanwhile, another mental hospital costing more than one million dollars is funded by the [South] Korean government. Meanwhile, two other clinics, on of them funded by the French government and the other by a trader, were inaugurated by the minister.

Addressing the participants, the health minister, said the hospitals would solve patients’ problems.

He said: We are concerned about mortality rate among pregnant women in Badakhshan Province. But, on the other hand, inauguration of four hospitals has boosted our activities in Balkh Province.

Meanwhile, representative of the German foreign ministry to Afghanistan said Germany was committed to setting up another 600- bed hospital in Mazar-e Sharif within two years.

The health minister has expressed his thanks to Germany, Korea and France and said health services were improving in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Atta Mohammad Nur, the governor of Balkh Province, welcomed the projects and said that Balkh was improving in terms of healthcare. He promised his support and said residents of northern Afghanistan could access the hospitals. [Passages omitted: Background information]

Originally published by Balkh TV, Mazar-e Sharif, in Dari 1400 15 Dec 07.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring South Asia. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.