HHS Activities in Afghanistan
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is involved in several activities within Afghanistan. These relate to numerous health areas including hospital training for healthcare professionals, the production and distribution of health education materials, the provision of safe water, and the mitigation of vaccine-preventable diseases. HHS has developed numerous governmental and non-governmental partners in the field that assist the Department in carrying out diverse projects.
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Background
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Rabia Balkhi Hospital
 | A baby girl being examined at the Rabia Balkhi Maternity Hospital (RBH) in Kabul, Afghanistan. Since April 2003, the HHS Office of Global Health Affairs (OGHA) and the Afghanistan Ministry of Health (MOH) have carried out projects to improve the quality of care at RBH and reduction of the infant mortality rate through training of hospital staff and improvement of the facility. (Photo by Winnie Michell) |
The largest HHS program is the maternal and child health-training program based at Rabia Balkhi Hospital (RBH). With additional funding from the U.S. Congress in Fiscal Years (FY) 2004-2006 (total of $17 million), HHS has entered a second phase in the development of a maternal and child health teaching clinic program in Afghanistan. In the long term, this will include expansion of the training program for junior physicians at RBH, the development of a hospital administration training program, the rationalization of maternal and child health care delivery in Kabul, and expansion of health clinic sites within Afghanistan.
HHS activities have had an enormous impact on the quality of care at RBH, have saved the lives of hundreds of women and newborns, and have improved significantly the skills and knowledge of the doctors, nurses and midwives at the hospital. We are continually adding new improvements that dramatically expand the hospital’s life-saving capacity, such as the opening of an emergency room with 24-hour operational capacity, the outfitting of a fully functional pediatric nursery, and the institution of a basic medical records system. HHS awarded in FY 2005 a second cooperative agreement to a non-governmental organization to provide sorely needed training in hospital management. This cooperative agreement is now in its second year of operation.
Rabia Balkhi Hospital Project Reports & Resources:
- Rabia Balkhi Hospital Project: July 2007 Activity (DOC - 872KB)
- Rabia Balkhi Hospital Project: January 2007 Activity (PDF - 121KB)
- Rabia Balkhi Hospital Project: November 2005-February 2006 Activity (PDF - 150KB)
- Rabia Balkhi Hospital Project: June 2005 Activity (PDF - 54KB)
- Rabia Balkhi Hospital Project: May 2005-August 2005 Activity (PDF - 92KB)
- Rabia Balkhi Hospital, Maternal Child Health Unit Training Project: November 2004 (PDF - 76KB)
- An Occupational Health Services Initiative at a Women's Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, by Margaret M. Kitt, et al., November-December 2006 (PDF - 88KB) (U.S. Public Health Service)
- Implementing a Facility-Based Maternal and Perinatal Health Care Surveillance System in Afghanistan, by Mary M. Dott, et al., July 2005 (requires free registration)
- Activities as Midwifery Faculty at the Rabia Balkhi Women’s Hospital, Presentation by Rosemary Bolza (Certified Nurse Midwife) (PDF - 1.2MB)
Persons with disabilities having problems accessing the above PDF file may call 202-690-6174 for assistance. - Afghanistan: WHO Collaborating Center in Reproductive Health, Presentation by CAPT Kitty MacFarlane (PDF - 603KB)
Persons with disabilities having problems accessing the above PDF file may call 202-690-6174 for assistance.
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Afghan Family Health Book (the Talking Book)
 | Afghan women using the Afghan Family Health Book, a project by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. |
In a partnership with Leap Frog Enterprises, HHS delivered 20,000 Family Health Books, specifically designed to meet the unique needs of Afghan women, to Afghanistan in 2004. The Family Health Books will teach mothers in Afghanistan how to better care for themselves and their children. Given the dismal rates of literacy among Afghan women, books and other written materials have limited use as educational materials.
To reach these disenfranchised Afghan women, HHS and LeapFrog Enterprises collaborated to develop these Family Health Books, battery-operated talking books that use sound and pictures to deliver health education messages. Working with the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science, and Equal Access (a non-governmental organization), HHS is developing a local language radio show using dialogue and text derived from the talking book. This will bring to life the Afghan Family Health Book to share salient health messages with Afghan families on a variety of priority health issues via the nationwide satellite radio network Radio Danesh. The project will bring the Afghan Family Health Book stories and characters to life in a series of radio programs entitled, "Health is a Blessing."
Rooted in a "typical" Afghan town with discernable role models who dramatize real-life health care situations and who bring to bear practical solutions and prevention measures for the problems, "Health is a Blessing" will reach a national audience, in even the most remote areas, educating listeners to establish personal responsibility for mitigating health care concerns. Issues such as maternal and child health, nutrition and particularly relevant diseases plaguing Afghans, are the featured lessons of each 30 minute radio show. This successful venture, once completed and established as a radio programming series, will bring access to quality health care information on a first-hand basis to millions of listeners.
Family Health Book Progress Reports:
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Avian and Pandemic Influenza
Working with the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health, HHS’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (HHS/CDC) is providing support for the development of epidemiology, surveillance and laboratory diagnostics of influenza and related infectious diseases. Additional funds support the work of an HHS/CDC epidemiologist who travels periodically to Afghanistan to provide technical assistance, and to support pandemic influenza preparedness activities. In addition, HHS provides support to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU)-3 based in Cairo to provide training and technical guidance in influenza diagnostics. NAMRU-3 works closely with the Afghanistan Government to build capacity to diagnose influenza in both avian and human populations.
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Micronutrient Malnutrition
The International Micronutrient Malnutrition Prevention and Control Program (IMMPaCt) of HHS/CDC maintains a cooperative agreement to provide financial and technical support to UNICEF and the Afghan Ministry of Public Health to plan and implement a national multi-micronutrient survey in Afghanistan, once the country’s security situation improves. The survey will document baseline prevalence of iron deficiency anemia and Vitamin A and iodine deficiency to enable public health authorities to assess the impact of micronutrient program interventions. HHS/CDC provides technical assistance to the Ministry, UNICEF, and the private sector to introduce iodized salt production to Afghanistan, and plans to provide technical assistance for the development of a monitoring system to track the implementation and impact of the salt iodization programs over time. IMMPaCt’s activities include technical support for flour fortification with iron, folic acid, and vitamins A, B1, B2, and B3, and support for courses to teach Afghans about food fortification.
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Polio Eradication and Measles
The Global Immunization Division at HHS/CDC provides technical and financial support for Afghanistan’s National Immunization Days (NIDs) against polio, and for a measles campaigns. HHS experts participate in the Afghanistan Technical Advisory Group that addresses national polio and measles eradication strategies, and has assigned some staff to the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) and UNICEF in support of immunization activities in Afghanistan.
The laboratory at HHS/CDC serves as the backup polio and measles testing laboratory for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and performs detailed wild poliovirus sequencing data analysis for Afghanistan. The NIDs campaign conducted in 2002 in the throes of the war significantly reduced morbidity and mortality rates among Afghan children.
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Post-Emergency Public Health Centre Afghanistan (PEPHCA)
In collaboration with the Afghan Ministry of Public Health and UNICEF, HHS/CDC is supporting the development of a Post-Emergency Public Health Centre Afghanistan (PEPHCA) to collect data essential for informed programming and capacity-building at the Afghan Ministry of Public Health. PEPHCA will conduct surveys and surveillance on major public health problems for which no or little data exist, assist in training of Ministry and NGO staff, support surveillance systems and communicable disease outbreak response and conduct high-quality public health research. In 2006, PEPHCA will focus on avian influenza surveillance, and studies on maternal morbidity and mortality.
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Safe Water System
The National Center for Infectious Diseases within HHS/CDC has been collaborating with the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank, Population Services International, and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to implement the Safe Water System (SWS) in Afghanistan, a point-of-use method to provide safe drinking water and related hygiene education to households. At this time, the SWS social marketing project is targeted for Kabul city and its environs. Future plans will expand the project to other major population centers. HHS/CDC is also becoming involved in hygiene-promotion activities in health facilities that provide maternal and child health care and a cost-effectiveness evaluation of the health impact of different intervention options.
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Related Links
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Last revised: December 30, 2008
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