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Afghanistan

A female hero fights CCHF in Herat province

4 July 2024, Kabul, Afghanistan – Afghanistan continues to face significant health challenges, marked by a high incidence of infectious diseases such as Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), acute watery diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, measles and dengue. Socioeconomic barriers already hinder access to adequate health services, and these outbreaks have further strained the country’s fragile health system.

Factors like unsafe sanitation, overcrowded living conditions, population displacement and overwhelmed infrastructure have worsened the spread of infectious diseases. Communicable disease control is a critical priority for local and international health partners working in the country.

In response, WHO Afghanistan has recently launched several targeted awareness-raising and risk management initiatives. One such initiative is a risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) campaign to educate and empower communities in Herat province to combat infectious disease outbreaks. CCHF has been a major public health concern in Herat, claiming many lives each year.

Dr Ramika Rahmati is a member of the WHO-supported surveillance team in Herat. She has been working with WHO for more than 6 months to support the implementation of WHO initiatives in her native province and promote health education in her community.

“Every step I take every morning to go to my duty, I hope to do more to help Afghan women and children and ensure everyone has access to health care,” said Dr Rahmati. “Working in Afghanistan as a female is not easy. I faced many challenges and obstacles during my duty in Herat, but I never gave up and continued my work with passion, commitment, and love.”

Dr Ramika has shown remarkable dedication to her work, warmly welcoming Afghan mothers to the health facility and providing them with essential health services. She also shares WHO Afghanistan’s RCCE campaign messaging, using visually appealing posters to engage and inform the community.

She told the story of a 25-year-old man named Taqi, a patient in Herat’s 100-bed Infectious Disease Hospital last year: “It was 10:30 on a hot day when I entered the hospital and saw an anxious mother with tears in her eyes, staring at the infectious ward. She appeared to have been awake all night, watching her son struggle with CCHF. Unfortunately, Taqi didn’t survive. That heartbreaking situation strengthened my commitment. I promised myself I would work tirelessly to prevent another Afghan mother from experiencing such grief. People need to be aware and educated about CCHF. It’s a preventable and curable disease.”

One of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, Herat is in the west of the country. It is split into about 16 districts and has more than 2000 villages. Health care in Herat faces significant challenges, especially after natural disasters like earthquakes and floods. Poverty, lack of education and limited health awareness are very common among people in Herat.

“WHO has been instrumental in educating vulnerable groups, especially women and children, and building essential national health response capacities to manage priority health issues, especially infectious diseases,” said Dr Jamshed Tanoli, acting WHO Representative to Afghanistan. “We have tailored health education initiatives to the Afghan context to raise awareness in underserved areas. These focus on preventing communicable diseases, using basic infection prevention measures, to minimize the burden on the already overstretched health facilities.”

Dr Ramika and the other members of the WHO supported surveillance team extend their gratitude to WHO for equipping and mobilizing them to provide essential health education services wherever needed. They have dedicated themselves to raising awareness in Herat, conducting visits to homes, health facilities, schools and madrasas to ensure comprehensive outreach and leave no one behind.