Life-Saving Healthcare Services to Underserved Communities in Samangan Province of Afghanistan The proposed project aims to contribute to lifesaving efforts through the provision of life saving healthcare including access to primary health care services in hard-to-reach areas capacity building of health workers in case detection and management of acute respiratory infections and awareness on the prevention of respiratory infections and other winter related risks in 2 districts of Aybak and Dara-e-Suf Bala in Samangan province. 

The project will cover 57,552 individuals in these 2 districts through 10 mobile health teams (MHTs), 5 in each of the districts. Each MHT will be led by 01 MD, and supported by 01 Midwife, 01 Nurse and 01 PSS counsellor. The MHTs will provide OPD (Outpatient Department) services for the general community who require basic primary healthcare, midwives will provide ANC services to the pregnant women who visit the teams, and the PSS counsellors will provide psychosocial patients screening and counselling sessions to those in need. OPD will include the distribution of medicines for common ailments such as winter related diseases and infections, flu, sore throat, patients with intestinal, urinary and heart problems, diabetes, etc. And midwives will distribute supplements to pregnant women as well as the distribution of medicines, The MHTs will also distribute 1,000 newborn kits to those that the team consider to be most in need and the indicators set for each of these kits. 

The MHTs will refer the critical patients to the BPHS (Basic Package of Health Services) or EPHS (Essential Package of Hospital Services) service points for better treatment and the PSS teams will also refer any severe illness of PSS cases to higher healthcare facilities when necessary. Support with the costs of transportation and medicine to a higher healthcare facility will be covered for those cases that are referred by the project.

The project will also increase the awareness of the general community about prevention of infectious diseases, including winter peaked disease and the prevention of COVID-19 through different communication channels. As Afghanistan has a strong conservative and religious society, the project will use IRW’s Faith Driven Approach (FDA) to mobilize people and to make them aware of why and how to protect themselves from diseases. Women and men community leaders, religious leaders, and community health workers and members of Shuras will be actively engaged. Cluster approved messages on prevention of various types of communicable diseases will be disseminated through safe and sustained communications channels. IRW will engage with RCCE WG on a regular basis for setting the communication methodologies and tools. IRW will ensure coordination with RCCE WG to ensure a harmonized approach and feed into rumor tracking. 

The project will train 100 Community Health Workers (CHWs) in the targeted two districts, 50 in each of the districts in the case detection and management of severe cases of acute respiratory infections.

This six-month project is designed as per the needs and gaps identified by the health cluster for the AHF 3rd Reserved Allocation 2022. The project will reach over 57,000 direct beneficiaries and 20,000 indirect beneficiaries in targeted districts in Samangan province. 

IRW is already implementing projects from donors like AHF/OCHA and our other partners in the north of the country. IRW has field offices in Balkh and 4 northern provinces including a newly established office in Samangan for the implementation of a health project in Hazratsultan and Dara-e-Suf Payeen.