Impact of Covid-19 in Afghanistan
COVID-19’s spread continues to pose a serious threat to public health worldwide and has a significant impact on the global economy. The pandemic’s global lockdown had a number of consequences, including job losses, company closures, and stock market collapses.
The virus was confirmed to have spread to Afghanistan when its index case, in Herat, was confirmed on 24 February 2020. Afghanistan, being a landlocked country with insufficient healthcare infrastructure, was hit hard, but has, until recently, managed to keep the numbers from hitting a devastating toll. However, the pandemic has upset the country’s already flailing economy, leading to brutal repercussions.
Current Covid-19 scenario in Afghanistan
As of 05 April 2022, the WHO reports that there have been 177,897 confirmed positive cases and 7,671 deaths. Kabul Province has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Afghanistan at 18,896, followed by Herat with 9,343 cases, and then Balkh with 3,431.
However, on 5 August 2020, an official survey from the Ministry of Public Health reported that approximately a third of the country’s population, or roughly 10 million people had contracted COVID-19.
Covid Statistics
- Recovery rate: 90.5% of all cases
- Fatality rate: 4.3% of all cases
- Daily Confirmed Cases: 4397 Per Million Population
Impact on Healthcare
Initially, a lack of medical oxygen and ventilators led to the deaths of most severe COVID-19 patients in the hospitals. The Afghanistan Government took swift steps such as creating isolation wards, gathering ICU beds, decentralizing testing, and recruiting fresh graduates, volunteers, and registered medical professionals to work in designated hospitals. Despite some financial incentives (hardship payments), many of these employees were difficult to keep owing to the tough working circumstances, high risk of infection, little PPE, and insufficient training and expertise in treating severe situations (especially for new graduates).
The World Bank, like the majority of other donors, discontinued support for the Sehatmandi project (Afghanistan’s leading Healthcare Programme) once the Taliban took control. As a result, 2,400 World Bank-funded health facilities have run out of supplies, critical pharmaceuticals, fuel, and oxygen.
Child Healthcare
A high COVID load in children is a major concern. According to the United Nations, 3.2 million Afghan children would suffer from acute malnutrition in winter, according to estimates from late 2021. This adds to the chance of getting a more severe case of COVID. Malnutrition and respiratory illness can have disastrous consequences. In Afghanistan, child mortality rates for all forms of pneumonia are already extremely high, with pneumonia being the third leading cause of death among children under the age of five in 2018, accounting for 15% of all child deaths.
Other vaccine-preventable illnesses will likely grow increasingly prevalent. Routine immunization coverage is severely decreased in areas where health services are unable to function. There is an immediate effect, with infectious illnesses such as measles spreading more quickly.
Challenges faced by Healthcare workers
The number of healthcare workers in Afghanistan is already lower than the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended physician to population ratio, which stood at 0.278 per 1000 people in 2016. This added a considerable burden on healthcare workers during COVID – 19 Pandemic.
Healthcare workers took resolute action to prevent the spread of the infection within the country. The healthcare system implemented mitigating strategies such as increasing testing kits and equipment, establishing treatment centres, quarantine facilities, and control measures in the community. Despite the challenges, healthcare workers showed resilience and fulfilled their duty to contain the pandemic. However, healthcare workers also sacrificed a lot in combating COVID-19 despite the lack of personal protective equipment and overcrowded beds. Amidst the pandemic, the healthcare workers were also the target of the horrific attacks.
Unfortunately, the country did not provide sufficient security for its healthcare workers. Therefore, healthcare workers in Afghanistan were not able to work effectively as a result of mental health symptoms such as anxiety and depression arising from the ever-threatening environment.
Economic Impact
The effect of COVID-19, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), resulted in a worldwide economic decrease in 2020 and a drop in economic growth to 3%. In 2020 Afghanistan was the number 111 economy in the world in terms of GDP (current US$), number 140 in total exports, 113 in total imports, 188 economy in terms of GDP per capita (current US$) and 109 most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI).
The COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on the economy of Afghanistan, the effects, from which the nation is still reeling.
Loss of Jobs and Poverty
In Herat:
- More than 35,000 shops and factories were closed by 16 April 2020, leading to a loss of profits and unemployment. Workers and shop owners were unable to pay rents. Construction also stopped in the province.
In Kabul:
- On 17 April, shopkeepers and street vendors announced that their incomes had been affected by the lockdown. Breadwinners of families and low-wage vendors were badly affected in poor communities of Kabul.
In Balk:
- On 18 April, Balkh officials and volunteers announced that over 20,000 displaced people and returnees, as well as over 10,000 vulnerable families in the province, needed assistance due to the loss of jobs, low wages, and unemployment. Food supplies from Uzbekistan had not been distributed to the vulnerable families yet, despite arriving weeks earlier.
Disruptions to Supply Chain and Trading
The COVID-19 pandemic is not only restricting the movement of people but also of basic consumer goods due to logistical and trade constraints in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) announced that there was a decline in exports to other countries and trade routes with neighbouring countries had been closed. In April 2020, nearly 2000 containers set for Afghanistan were stuck at the Port of Karachi in Pakistan.
Food
Prices of key food items such as wheat, wheat flour and cooking oil increased by up to 20 per cent during March-April 2020. To make matters worse, Afghanistan suffers from a wheat deficit, which is offset by imports, primarily from Kazakhstan, which has introduced an overall export cap.
Agriculture
Restrictions resulting from the lockdown hindered the production and sale of opiates in major producing countries, especially Afghanistan, the largest producer of opium poppy worldwide. Export of other agricultural produce such as fruits and nuts also halted.
Global Response and Measures Taken
Actors such as The World Bank, Asian Development Bank and World Health Organization announced that they would provide help. Help was also received from countries such as the United Arab Emirates, China, Uzbekistan, EU and Turkey. However, it was reported later that the quality of the medical equipment from China was not up to standard and put Afghanistan’s Coronavirus fight at risk. Vaccines have been deployed from the USA and India, and Malaysia announced in March, 2022 that it will contribute 1.6 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Afghanistan.
NGO Aid
In May, a Qatari foundation (Algharrafa Foundation) and a group of Afghan investors from China sent medical equipment worth over $2 million. Algharrafa provided £1 million aid and announced that they would build a hospital in Farah Province. Altogether, the Afghan investors have given $3 million aid, which includes previous aid packages sent. Kayehan Foundation, based in the Netherlands, sent 200 sets of PPE, masks and 10 medical machines to Jamhuriat Hospital in Kabul.
Help from India
India has donated 500,000 doses of its inactivated COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin to Afghanistan and has pledged to donate a million vaccine doses to the war-torn country. India has provided 1.6 tonnes of medical assistance to Afghanistan through the World Health Organisation in December.
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