Ebad calls on aid organs to support health sector

KABUL (TOLOnews): Qalandar Ebad, the Acting Minister of Public Health, has departed for an official four-day visit to Qatar.

Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil, the ministry’s spokesperson, stated that the purpose of Mr. Ebad’s visit is to participate in the Technical Advisory Group meeting, which includes representatives from the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

On the first day of this meeting, Qalandar Ebad mentioned that over 70,000 frontline workers, including women, are part of the polio eradication program in Afghanistan. According to Amarkhil, the Acting Minister of Public Health has called for increased cooperation from aid organizations to strengthen the country’s healthcare system during this meeting.

Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health, said: “The Minister of Public Health will have a four-day meeting in Qatar with a technical advisory group. Representatives from the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the National Emergency Operations Center of Afghanistan, the Centers for Disease Control, Rotary International, and the GAVI Alliance will be present at this meeting.

The goal of this meeting is to find ways to eradicate polio in Afghanistan and Pakistan, so that in the future, a permanent technical advisory group can work on solutions and prevention methods for this disease.”

Meanwhile, several doctors say that holding such meetings with polio eradication programs and the participation of the Acting Minister of Public Health from the Islamic Emirate can be beneficial.

Sayed Abdullah Ahmadi, a doctor, said: “Such trips are extremely effective and useful for eradicating polio from Afghanistan. The Acting Minister of Public Health needs to present all the polio eradication programs from Afghanistan precisely and logically to the world.”

Another doctor, Baz Mohammad Shirzad, said: “The goal of participating in international programs should be to secure consistent and sustained financial support for continuing the polio eradication program in Afghanistan.”

This comes as Japan also donated 6.9 million dollars to UNICEF in Afghanistan last week for children’s vaccination, particularly for polio.