Kabul / Geneva (ICRC) – With support from Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has started the first-ever collection of blood in support of Kandahar city's Mirwais hospital, which serves a population of three million people in some of the most insecure, volatile areas of the country.

Mirwais is the region's main hospital for the treatment of war-wounded people, including victims of gunshot injuries and burns.

The hospital also has extremely important paediatric and obstetrics wards, there being so many poor, displaced children and pregnant women in the area it covers.

"Mirwais hospital has a major shortage of blood for transfusion, especially in emergency cases", says Dr Sharifa Sidiqe, the facility's director.

The ICRC's blood-collection initiative started with 46 medical students who volunteered to donate nearly half a litre each.

"We hope that this initial blood collection will motivate everyone in Kandahar to regularly donate blood in future", said Robert Keusen, an ICRC laboratory technician.

Having previously repaired and upgraded the surgical department at Mirwais, the ICRC recently extended its support to the entire 380-bed hospital, signing a five-year agreement with the Ministry of Public Health to implement a package of reforms.

''Together we are aiming to raise the standard of hospital services to a nationally agreed level'', Dr Sidiqe said.

''People expect change to happen quickly, without understanding the concept of capacity-building in order to achieve sustainable results.

We should strive for realistic standards here in Afghanistan – which is, after all, not a Western context – and remember that we are starting from zero, from a state of total collapse.'' The ICRC has been working in Afghanistan since 1987, aiding people affected by successive armed conflicts that have ravaged the country.

There are currently eight ICRC expatriate medical staff working at Mirwais hospital to support and train Afghan health-care personnel.

The ICRC is focusing on improving the capacity of Mirwais personnel to provide essential services including high-quality surgical care for victims of the armed conflict and other emergencies.

For further information, please contact:
Graziella Leite Piccolo, ICRC Kabul, tel : +93700 282 719
Mohammed Qasem Hilaman, ICRC Kabul, tel: +93 0799 339 461
Carla Haddad, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 24 05 or +41 79 217 32 26
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