Estonia Helps Helmand Province Central Hospital in Afghanistan with Close to 3 Million

The Foreign Ministry is supporting Bost Hospital, the central hospital of Helmand province in Afghanistan, in the acquisition of medical supplies with 2,943,213 kroons (188,000 EUR). The sum was allocated from the Foreign Ministry’s budget for development and humanitarian aid.Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. In order for its development to be a success, intense co-operation is urgently needed in the realm of medicine, along with other areas. “Supporting Helmand province’s central hospital will improve the availability of medical assistance for the residents there,” said Foreign Minister Urmas Paet. The foreign minister added that it also helps to create decent conditions for people who live in destitution. A large part of Afghanistan’s residents live in total poverty, especially widowed women and children. Within the framework of the non-profit organisation Mondo’s project, a medical oxygen delivery system will be obtained for the hospital, along with transportable medical oxygen tubing and medical supplies such as an autoclave, gurneys, wheelchairs, aspirators, throat masks, sterilisers, splints, crutches, and an ultrasound machine. Bost Hospital is the largest and best hospital in Helmand province. There are 34 doctors working there and 300 people receive treatment there each day, which is notably more than in previous years. Estonia supported the paediatric ward of the Helmand central hospital in 2007 with 1.1 million kroons, which was used to purchase portable oxygen generators and warming beds for underweight and premature infants. At the beginning of this year, Estonia helped obtain diesel fuel for Bost Hospital’s electrical generator, which allowed for hospital rooms to be lit and heated and for medical equipment to continue running during the winter months. Since March 2008, an Estonian health care expert has been working in the city of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province. He is implementing Estonia’s development co-operation project on location and consulting with the board of the United Kingdom’s development team and Helmand’s provincial government about developing the health care system.[/lang_en]