IMFE at the bedside of Afghan women

Sitting peacefully on her hospital bed, Zohra exudes a new-found serenity. “I was on the verge of despair. The operation was essential for me, but our finances didn’t allow it. Today, I feel free from suffering”, she confides. A 35-year-old mother of six, Zohra had been suffering for years from the consequences of organ descent and urinary incontinence. These disorders had a serious impact on her daily life, causing her pain and difficulty in walking and sitting down. Beyond the physical aspect, these ailments were a heavy social burden: unable to wash her clothes because of her condition, Zohra lived in shame of her body odor and avoided celebrations and social gatherings. Thanks to La Chaîne de l’Espoir, she benefited from a free operation at theInstitut Médical pour la Mère et l’Enfant (IMFE) in Kabul.

Located at the foot of a slum-covered mountain, near the ruins of the former hospital, this facility opened its doors in 2005. Built and co-managed by La Chaîne de l’Espoir, it initially treated children before extending its services to adults in 2016. Today, the facility offers a wide range of medical services, including emergencies, gynecology, obstetrics, neonatology, cardiology, surgery, medical imaging, laboratory analyses, as well as ophthalmology and dental care.

Since 2008, the adjoining Women’s and Children’s Pavilion has also provided essential accommodation for patients and their families from the country’s 34 provinces, with the participation of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs’ Crisis and Support Center. Unique in Afghanistan, the IMFE is renowned for its medical and surgical excellence to international standards.

Faced with the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, IMFE stepped up its care for women and children. The return of the Taliban to power has enabled greater mobility and security in the country, leading to a significant increase in the hospital’s activity.

To meet these growing needs, the hospital has opened a nutrition unit, which has become the reference center for severe acute malnutrition in children. At the same time, its commitment to women has been strengthened, notably through a referral system in collaboration with other associations, targeting vulnerable women in refugee camps and remote areas. “We enable women to seek treatment for things they themselves find hard to express. They don’t necessarily have the opportunity to talk to their family, let alone a doctor in their district or town. In this way, we secure women’s voices and access to care for very intimate problems”, explains Sonia Cautain.explains Sonia Cautain.

This week, the hospital is buzzing with activity. A volunteer team, led by Dr. Yacoub, head of the obstetrics and gynecology department at the Beaune Hospital in France, is conducting a week-long training mission in gynecological care. The reunion with their Afghan counterparts is a warm one: a volunteer with La Chaîne de l’Espoir for almost fifteen years, Dr. Yacoub visits the IMFE once or twice a year to continue sharing knowledge and guaranteeing the quality of care. “It’s essential to train teams in order to raise practitioners’ skill levels. All the more so as we’re talking about the last generation of trained gynecologists because, unfortunately, there are no longer any gynecology interns coming out of the faculty. Today, thanks to these training missions, these women have a very good level and are among the best gynecologists in the country”, she testifies.she says.

Already excluded from access to education during their childhood under the first Taliban regime, these health professionals have had to make enormous efforts to train. The lack of female doctors is particularly problematic, as many female patients are reluctant, or even refuse, to consult a man. “I’m impressed by the temperament, willingness to learn and ability to forge ahead of women in hospital. And today, they work one or two shifts a week, which is not easy in the family and societal context of Afghanistan. It’s admirable”, adds Dr. Yacoub.adds Dr Yacoub.

Following the ban on women’s secondary and university education in 2022, Dr Rahima realizes how lucky she is to be able to practice her profession. Trained at the Faculty of Medicine in Balkh, northern Afghanistan, she now works as a gynecologist at the Mother and Child Medical Institute (IMFE) in Kabul. Throughout the week, she was able to carry out surgical operations in partnership with Dr. Yacoub. “These training courses bring us a lot. In particular, they enable us to learn new techniques. This week, for example, we learned how to perform a vacuum-assisted delivery.she describes.