October 2016—Ghor is one of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, located in the center of the nation and lying at the tail of the Hindu Kush Mountains. Its Dawlatyar district is remote and sits high above sea level. Although Dawlatyar faces the threat of drought during the summer, winter is harsher. The jagged mountain passes that most residents must use can become blocked by the heavy snows and blizzards common during the season.

It used to be that the long, isolated winter months could prove dangerous, and even deadly, especially for mothers and children. Dawlatyar is home to more than 15,000 Afghan families, each of whom had to travel 18 miles to reach the closest health care facility. The distance sometimes meant the difference between life and death—injury, infection, lack of vaccines and pregnancy complications all could cost a local Afghan his or her life if the journey to the clinic took too long or was made impossible by severe weather.

The USAID-funded HEMAYAT project and the Afghan Government came up with a solution: Take health care directly to the villagers, including those in Dawlatyar.

HEMAYAT’s provincial coordinator and Ghor’s Provincial Public Health Directorate created a specially designed mobile team of health care providers that could reach remote places where clinics would be difficult and costly to build. The team is made up of a midwife, a nurse, two nurses’ assistants and a social health worker. The team provides vital vaccinations, antenatal and postnatal care, and family planning counseling. Last winter alone, the team performed over 1,000 deliveries in Dawlatyar and around Ghor province.

This new way of providing health care has changed the lives of many of Ghor’s residents. “In the absence of clinics, our dream of accessible health care services has become a reality through the mobile health team,” said Ata Muhammad, a community elder from Darwaza village in Dawlatyar district. “We are so grateful.”

USAID’s HEMAYAT project, which runs from 2015 to 2020, partners with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health to bring high-quality health care services to vulnerable, hard-to-reach populations, with a focus on mothers and children.

LINKS

Follow @USAIDAfghan, on Facebook, on Flickr, on YouTube