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By U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Casey Osborne
NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- The Afghan government completed refurbishment on two clinics in the Dari Noor District of Nangarhar province, Nov. 13.
This was the first project completed by the government since the new Nangarhar Provincial Reconstruction Team arrived, Oct. 31.
The $66,000 construction job, which took more than year and a half, added a waiting room, a food storage room for helping malnourished children and a delivery room to the clinics.
“The completion of the two clinics in Dari Noor District show how GIRoA can step up to the plate and take control of their country,” said U.S. Air Force 2nd Lt. James Elliott, a Richburg, S.C., native and Nangarhar PRT civil engineer. “They are projects the Afghans can take pride in. Furthermore, after speaking with the doctors who will inherit each of the clinics, they are thankful and appreciative of support provided by the PRT.”
Afghanistan’s health system ranks 173 out of 190 countries according to the World Health Organization in 2000 (the most recent year ranking occurred). Because of this, the PRT placed an emphasis on improving the healthcare infrastructure in Nangarhar. Over the past six years, the provincial government worked side-by-side with the PRT on about 40 different projects related to healthcare in Nangarhar.
These two clinics will serve roughly 25,000 people in Dari Noor and assist in delivering approximately 75 children per month, said Dr. Baz. Mohammad Shirzad, provincial public health director.
Shirzad also praised the PRT for their assistance with the clinic, citing the location of the centers as the main advantage of this project. Because the clinics are built in a highly rural area, the people of Dari Noor who are rarely able to use the more advanced urban hospitals now have a viable, sophisticated healthcare option readily available.
Beyond improving the public health situation in Dari Noor, this construction project also helped boost the local economy, said Javed Khan, director of Shakil Javed Construction Company, the organization who completed the refurbishments. The entire task employed 24 Afghan workers, all of whom, from the unskilled labourers to the building’s engineer and supervisor, were locals from Dari Noor.
| Date Taken: | 11.23.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 11.23.2010 14:04 |
| Story ID: | 60735 |
| Location: | NANGARHAR PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 257 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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