IRIN
AFGHANISTAN: Severe winter causes more pneumonia child deaths
6 March 2007


HERAT, 6 March 2007 (IRIN) - Doctors in Afghanistan say that a 
particularly cold winter this year has increased the number of children 
dying of pneumonia. Thousands of children contract the respiratory 
illness every winter in Afghanistan, where difficult living conditions 
and inadequate medical care can make it a fatal illness.

In February, at least 50 children reportedly died of pneumonia at Herat 
provincial hospital, while in the eastern province of Nangarhar, there 
were 28 deaths.

Despite measures such as an early warning system and attempts at civic 
education and improving facilities, doctors at both hospitals said that 
child mortality from pneumonia increased this year because of the cold 
weather and the increased snow it brought.

Zia Gul's four-day-old daughter Parastu contracted pneumonia in the 
cold, windy room of their house in the Koshko Robatsangi district in 
Herat province.

"We are very poor people and cannot afford enough wood for the stove," 
Gul said. "My room also does not have proper windows and doors, allowing 
the cold wind to come in. I tried keeping her warm with two or three 
blankets but she fell sick."

To get her to the nearest medical facility, Parastu's family had to walk 
in snow to the nearest village with cars. In heavy snow, the vehicle 
they found took two hours to reach the nearest clinic, where doctors 
said the baby's condition was serious and told the parents to take her 
to Herat. Upon arriving in the provincial capital, they learnt Parastu 
had a severe form of pneumonia.

Delays in getting medical care often cause deaths. Dr Abdul Qayoum, head 
of the paediatric ward in the Herat provincial hospital, said 
Afghanistan's winter prompted respiratory diseases such as influenza, 
severe pneumonia and tuberculosis.

The hospital sees the deaths of 12 to 15 children due to pneumonia every 
week, Qayoum said, adding that most of the children were from rural 
areas. With the onset of pneumonia symptoms, Qayoum said parents often 
took their children to mullahs (religious teachers) for prayers to be 
read over them. They would only go to hospitals if the child's condition 
deteriorated, by which stage treatment can be difficult.

Tawoos, a woman from Ghorian district, brought her six-month-old son to 
Herat hospital after four mullahs could not cure him. The family gave a 
calf to the first mullah, a prayer rug to the second and money to two 
others. Now, Tawoos sits by her son Saddeq in a hospital where she has 
seen three mothers lose their children.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), pneumonia accounts for 
20 percent of all deaths of children under five in developing countries. 
In Afghanistan, statistics are hard to compile because even the larger 
regional hospitals have only just started to record admissions and 
deaths.

The WHO says basic hospital equipment such as oxygen concentrators, 
suction machines, nebulizers and oxygen masks are in short supply in the 
war-ravaged country.

"It is for the Ministry of Public Health to take a decision on this," 
Qayoum said. "The people in the rural areas need their doctors and 
nurses to be trained in diagnosis and they need better healthcare 
facilities."

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