Afghanistan

Map of Afghanistan

Axes of intervention

  • Care and surgery
  • Training and skills transfer
  • Construction et équipement d'hôpitaux
  • Prévention et dépistage
  • Urgences et crises humanitaires
  • Santé maternelle
Start of mission: 2001
Faced with an alarming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, La Chaîne de l'Espoir, active in the country since 2001, remains mobilized to bring relief to the population. Through the Institut Médical Français pour la Mère et l'Enfant and the Pavillon des Femmes et des Enfants, we provide essential care to the most vulnerable.
Background

Ourhumanitarian aid work in Afghanistan

9 out of 10 Afghans

live below the poverty line in Afghanistan, a figure that has almost doubled between 2020 and 2022.

3.5 million children

suffer from hunger and need nutritional treatment in Afghanistan.

Every
2 hours,

a woman dies from complications of pregnancy or childbirth in Afghanistan.

Sources: UN, WHO (2022 figures)
Since the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the humanitarian crisis has intensified critically. Populations, already weakened by decades of conflict, face a crying lack of vital resources such as food, drinking water and medical care. This situation is leading to an alarming increase in poverty and famine, dramatically affecting the most vulnerable populations.

The interruption of international financial aid for development and economic sanctions have plunged Afghanistan into an unprecedented crisis. Many essential infrastructure projects, particularly in the healthcare sector, have been abruptly suspended. More than one in ten healthcare facilities is only partially operational, if at all. What’s more, the shortage of qualified health professionals is compounding the difficulties encountered. Families, particularly those living in isolated areas, often find themselves without financial means and without access to adequate healthcare facilities. This leads them to forego essential medical care.

In the face of these challenges, La Chaîne de l’Espoir is redoubling its efforts to maintain the activity of the Pavillon des Femmes et des Enfants and the Institut Médical Français pour la Mère et l’Enfant in Kabul, in order to continue offering vital care to the Afghan population.

Our humanitarian aid work in Afghanistan

IMFE, a hospital of excellence to respond to medical emergencies

Near the ruins of Kabul’s old hospital, La Chaîne de l’Espoir opened the Institut Médical Français pour la Mère et l’Enfant (IMFE) in 2006. Managed by the Aga Khan Development Network, it offers gynecology, obstetrics, neonatology, cardiology, cardiac surgery, ophthalmology and dental care, as well as an emergency department. Today, La Chaîne de l’Espoir contributes its technical expertise as a member of the Board of Directors, particularly in the area of medical training.

The IMFE has helped save the lives of thousands of children and provided healthcare for over 1.5 million Afghans since its creation.

The only one of its kind in Afghanistan, the IMFE has become a benchmark for medical and surgical excellence that meets international standards. Thanks to the expertise of La Chaîne de l’Espoir and its humanitarian missions in Afghanistan, it was the first hospital in Afghanistan to perform open-heart pediatric cardiac surgery. It is also the only facility to perform esophageal repair surgery, an essential procedure to save the lives of young children who accidentally ingest soda or toxic products.

Originally aimed solely at children, the hospital broadened its scope with the creation of a gynecology-obstetrics and neonatology department, in 2016. This new Mother-Child unit is the only specialized center (type 3) for the care of pregnancies, physiological births, maternal and infant pathologies and obstetric emergencies.

Two Siamese sisters rescued at IMFE

The story of Siamese-born sisters Aysha and Sidiqa is a message of hope for families far from medical care. Joined through the abdomen at birth, the two newborns were able to access the advice of specialist doctors when they were just 8 days old. After a teleconsultation between doctors at Faizabad Provincial Hospital in Badakshan and Dr. Jalil Wardak, IMFE’s chief pediatric surgeon, the father of two girls was convinced to bring the twins to the hospital. He travelled 300 km to Kabul to reach the IMFE, where the two sisters were cared for free of charge by the medical teams thanks to our Welfare program. The operation that separated them saved their lives. A first in Afghanistan’s medical history!

The Pavillon des Femmes et des Enfants, a home for families far from healthcare

A father with his daughter at the IMFE in Kabul
A mother with her daughter at the IMFE in Kabul
A father with his child at the IMFE in Kabul

To enable as many people as possible to benefit from treatment at the IMFE, La Chaîne de l’Espoir welcomes the most destitute Afghan families living in provinces far from the capital to the Pavillon des Femmes et des Enfants. For these women, the cost of transport and accommodation in Kabul is an obstacle to accessing the necessary healthcare, particularly surgery. Opened in 2008, the Pavillon des Femmes et des Enfants initially welcomed children identified through a referral network with NGOs and the Afghan Ministry of Health, in order to provide them with the medical and surgical treatment they needed to survive.

The project evolved in 2018 to include women requiring gynecological operations, following the opening of the gynecology-obstetrics department at the Institut Médical Français pour la Mère et l’Enfant (IMFE).

With the support of the Crisis and Support Center of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, families receive :

  • full coverage of medical and hospitalization costs at the IMFE,
  • meals and free accommodation with a family member,
  • the cost of transport from the province of origin,
  • hygiene and health awareness sessions,
  • fun and educational activities,
  • psychosocial support.
In 2023, the Pavilion provided care for around 3,900 children and women, through 3,413 surgical operations and over 10,500 consultations.

Vital care for severely malnourished children

A young girl at the Children's Pavilion in Kabul
At a time when the country is in the grip of famine, La Chaîne de l’Espoir has adapted its humanitarian action in Afghanistan to meet the urgent needs of the population: in addition to its usual healthcare services, the Institut Médical Français pour la Mère et l’Enfant (IMFE) has since 2022 had a unit to care for children suffering from severe malnutrition. This unit has become the reference center in Afghanistan for the treatment of the most serious cases of severe acute malnutrition in children.

Children and their mothers receive care in this hospital unit, staying on average for over a week. This stay enables the child to regain weight thanks to appropriate treatment. When they leave, families are given packets of the food supplements they need until their next consultation in the outpatient clinic. This post-hospitalization follow-up is vital to ensure lasting recovery and prevent relapses.

The unit has a total of 16 beds, including 4 beds in a special care unit. Depending on requirements, two intensive care beds are also available to accommodate patients in critical condition.

Najiya and her daughter Amina at the Kabul nutrition unit
“Amina was born two years ago. She was well, but always suffered from hunger. A month ago, she started to run a fever and vomit. She couldn’t eat or drink. I was so worried, I thought I was going to lose my daughter. Today, Amina is better. I’m so happy that my daughter has recovered.

Najiya, Amina’s mother, admitted to the IMFE nutrition unit

Gynaecological care for women living in Kabul’s refugee camps

In order to target the most vulnerable, especially those living in IDP camps and in the only women’s shelter still open in Kabul, we also meet women in community centers run by the NGO Norwegian Refugee Council. There, we carry out consultations to identify women in urgent need of gynecological care. We also organize awareness-raising sessions on the risks of pregnancy and childbirth. Indeed, following home births without adequate medical assistance, many women suffer complications that severely affect their daily lives.
Sun

Strengthening the Afghan healthcare system and training caregivers

A doctor performs a cardiac ultrasound on a child at the IMFE in Kabul.
This medical emergency in Afghanistan has resulted in a high mortality rate, particularly among expectant mothers and young children. It illustrates the need for medical aid in Afghanistan. In partnership with the Ministry of Public Health and the Aga Khan Development Network, La Chaîne de l’Espoir is present on humanitarian missions in Afghanistan, training doctors and nurses to strengthen the country’s medical offer and empower medical personnel in complex intervention techniques.

With only two doctors for every 10,000 inhabitants, the country struggles to provide access to quality healthcare for nearly 40 million Afghans.

Training to meet the shortage of Afghan doctors

The Institut Médical Français pour la Mère et l’Enfant (IMFE) is officially recognized by the Afghan authorities to provide Post Graduate Medical Education (PGME) to Afghan doctors in nine specialties:

  • Pediatrics
  • Pediatric surgery
  • Cardiology
  • Orthopedics
  • Anaesthesia
  • Radiology
  • Gynaecology / obstetrics
  • Clinical pathology
  • Cardiac surgery
IMFE was the first establishment in Afghanistan to train female doctors specializing in clinical pathology, radiology and pediatric surgery.

In addition, throughout the year, La Chaîne de l’Espoir organizes humanitarian missions to Afghanistan at the IMFE to treat and train local medical staff through practical and theoretical courses.

In 2023, 48 doctors and 1 biomedical engineer received training during the 13 medical missions organized during the year.

Echoes® : des séances d’échographie à distance

Des échographies à distance en direct, en lien avec des médecins français, permettent aux cardiologues afghans de bénéficier d’un avis sur les diagnostics de cardiologie pédiatrique pour les cas les plus complexes.

E-Health, le premier programme afghan de télémédecine

Lancé en 2007 entre le Réseau de Développement Aga Khan, les hôpitaux de province de Bamyan, Badakhshan, Kandahar et l’hôpital Khorog au Tadjikistan, le programme E-Health permet à des patients vivant dans des provinces éloignées de bénéficier de téléconsultations avec des médecins spécialistes de l’IMFE.

Our partners

They support our humanitarian aid
in Afghanistan

No linked partners found.

Photos: Oriane Zerah / La Chaîne de l’Espoir

En direct du terrain

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