The use of certain weapons over the past 20 years has negatively affected the Afghan health and agriculture sectors, according to the second deputy prime minister, Mullah Abdul Salam Hanafi.
Speaking at a gathering held to mark Immunization Week, Hanafi said that many people in rural areas lack access to health service.
“They have used different types of weapons in this land. Our agriculture sector was damaged. Various types of chemical materials were used. Our children, women and our sisters were affected,” he said.
“This is the responsibility of the international community to assist with the Afghans in the elimination of negative effects caused by wars imposed by them,” Hanafi added.
The Ministry of Public Health said that it will soon launch the vaccination campaign across the country.
“This widespread campaign will be conducted from mosque to mosque,” said Qalandar Obad, acting Minister of Public Health.
“The Ministry is also launching a vaccination campaign against Covid-19 across the country in urban and rural areas,” said Abdul Qadeer Musa, an official of UNICEF.
This comes as the representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) to Afghanistan Khan Zaman expressed concerns over the surge in measles.
The SCA is a politically and religiously unbound Swedish non-governmental organisation active in Afghanistan. The organisation was formed in 1980.
The Ministry of Defense said, the incident will be investigated.
The closure of the health facilities denying people to receive medical treatment and health services is an obvious violation of human rights and international humanitarian law, SCA country director, Sonny Mansson said.
“We demand immediate reopening of all health facilities for the people and we strongly urge all parties involved in conflict to refrain from such actions which deliberately puts civilian lives at risk,” he said.
Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman, says in a tweet that the group does not have any problem with “daily activities” of the health centers of the SCA in Wardak province.
The SCA statement said the organization is in contact with all parties in an attempt to reopen the health facilities in the province and urged the Taliban leadership to agree on reopening of the health facilities with immediate effect.—Tolonews
