
Taliban Leave Behind Ruined Health System in Afghanistan
Boston Globe; F1
Gorov, Lynda
[12/11/2001]
In Afghanistan, the health system has been almost completely ruined and needs to be rebuilt almost from scratch. Statistics from the World Health Organization reveal that 85 percent of the 330 districts in Afghanistan have only basic health care. Moreover, 50 districts have no immunization program or health center at all, while elsewhere in the country, many hospitals lack equipment, medicine, fuel, and food for patients. Only 12 percent of Afghans have access to safe water, and there is currently only one doctor in the country for every 50,000 people. In order to restore its health system, the country now has to lure back the thousands of doctors and other personnel who fled to Pakistan during the time of the Taliban or one of the country's other dictatorial regimes.
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