Kabul's Renovated Hospital Improves Quality of Healthcare for Thousands

KABUL CITY – After months of renovation work at the Rahman Mina Hospital, administrative officer Ahmad Shekib  is relieved that he no longer has to struggle daily with issues that come with old buildings. “As the work continued day by day, the building was getting better,” says Shekib, 25, who has worked at the hospital for five years.

“The septic system [in our building] was not working well. The renovation solved many of the challenges we had,” says Shekib. “.”

 (KUHP). The project aims to improve access to and use of quality health services in Afghanistan’s capital. The hospital serves more than 130,000 people in the Kart-e-Naw neighborhood of District 8, providing health services to over 900 patients a day. The 30-bed hospital has 48 employees, including doctors, nurses, administrative staff, and cleaners.

Rahman Mina Hospital was reconstructed in 2001 with support of the Japanese government. In recent years, the hospital needed renovations to its plumbing and electrical systems as well as infrastructure. The maternal delivery room also lacked sufficient privacy for mothers. Dr. Atiqullah Mushfiq, 40, who is head of the hospital, says, “Hospital activities could not be organized properly and because of these challenges, our performance was weak.  We were not able to provide health services to the community properly.”

. At the same time, KUHP provided needed equipment, introduced the Health Management Information System, and trained staff on how to use it.

“We are grateful for the support. It has really enabled us to organize our work,” says Dr. Mushfiq. “.”

Effective Approach to Health Service Provision

KUHP was supported by the System Enhancement for Health Action in Transition (SEHAT), a Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) program. The SEHAT program, which closed on June 30, 2018, supported the provision of a basic package of health service (BPHS) and an essential package of hospital services (EPHS) to the entire country. The program was supported by the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank Group’s fund for the poorest countries, and the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), administered by the World Bank on behalf of 34 donor countries, in partnership with multiple donors. 

“SEHAT had an effective approach to providing health services in Kabul city,” says Dr. Abdul Wakil Ahmadi, Director of the Kabul Provincial Public Health Directorate. “.”

Rahman Mina Hospital serves more than 130,000 people in the Kart-e-Naw neighborhood of Kabul city's District 8, providing health services to over 900 patients a day. Photo Credit: Rumi Consultancy/ World Bank

Long-term Efforts Needed

Although significant progress was made under SEHAT, many areas still require long-term efforts to achieve more tangible results, Dr. Ahmadi points out. “We still have major problems in our health facilities in Kabul city,” he says. “Most of our ambulances are very old and need to be replaced, for example. We also need to focus much more on our Community Health Workers.”

KUHP will continue under the follow-on project of the SEHAT program, the Afghanistan Sehatmandi Project.  Health Net-TPO, an international nongovernmental organization, has been contracted to provide management support for the implementation of KUHP.

The improvement in delivery of BPHS and EPHS will continue under the Sehatmandi project, which came into effect in July 2018. . It works to strengthen the health system and its performance as well as increase demand and community accountability for key health services. The project is supported by the ARTF, IDA, and Global Financing Facility (GFF), a multi-stakeholder partnership that prioritizes high impact but underinvested areas of health.

. “Although I can afford private hospitals,” he says, “I am not going there because Rahman Mina Hospital provides good services and my two children were born here.”