TY - JOUR T1 - A year in Afghanistan — Herat hospital paediatric ward JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 794 LP - 795 VL - 54 IS - 507 AU - James C Stevens AU - Brigg Reilley AU - Sally Hargreaves AU - Abdul Sattar Y1 - 2004/10/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/54/507/794.abstract N2 - Afghanistan's recovery from decades of conflict continues. Currently, the majority of health care is provided by national or international non-governmental organisations (NGOs); estimates suggest that over 80% of health facilities have some form of NGO involvement.1 However, ensuring access to the population poses great difficulties for such NGOs.2 The recent killing of five Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) workers highlights the fragility of their ability to respond. Moreover, the acute shortage of healthcare workers in the western provinces compounds the problem. The World Health Organisation suggests that there are 0.8 physicians and 0.1 midwives per 10 000 population.3 Although accurate data is scarce in a context of nearly continuous armed conflict and displaced populations, current estimates place Afghanistan's infant mortality rate at 165 per 1000 live births, and the mortality rate among children under 5 years of age at 257 per 1000 live births. This is among the highest in the world.4MSF began supporting the paediatric ward of the hospital in Herat city (capital of Herat province) in July 2000. This 400-bed hospital is the only non-military hospital for a province nearly twice the size of Wales. The support consists of international staff, training for the local … ER -