IMC Prepares for Afghanistan's Harshest Winter in 30 Years

Photo: IMC

Nuristani women carry heavy loads of firewood over steep, snowy inclines

January 29, 2008 - Landlocked by Himalayan peaks, Afghanistan produces some of the most extreme weather on the planet, seasonally see-sawing from scorching 119-degree highs to freezing negative-51-degree lows. Winters can be particularly traumatic, as heavy snowfall severs the most remote provinces from contact with the capital of Kabul until the spring thaw. In what is being called the worst winter in 30 years, this January brought a fatal deep freeze, with more than 200 winter-related deaths and transportation lines paralyzed by over three feet of snowfall. Stranding thousands in icy isolation, the January storm shook Afghanistan into a state of emergency, as the delivery of food and non-food items was delayed or impossible to many of the most snowed-in communities.

International Medical Corps, in anticipation of the winter onslaught, prepared its response in Afghanistan long before temperatures began to plummet. With basic health services programs funded by the European Commission (EC) in place in the eastern province of Nuristan, a region peppered by 300,000 scattered, high-elevation residents, IMC typically begins its deep-freeze hibernation a year in advance so that it acquires the medicine, food, wood and fuel it needs long before the first snowflake falls. Although the entire province was not affected by the January blizzard, its capital, Nuristan, as well as Paroon and Kantiwa in the central cluster, began to shut down from the heavy snowfall.

Photo: IMC

Heavy snow covers a remote, mountainous settlement in Afghanistan after severe winter storms

“We begin the supply of medicines well in advance of the winter and the supply of vitamins plays an important role as we try to strengthen the immune system of women and children before the winter starts,” says Dr. Mohammad Jan, IMC Eastern Regions Program Director.

As Nuristan’s settlements have frozen into solitude, IMC has been able to preserve its original population reach through 110 active health posts located throughout the mountainous province with support from the EC. By covering a wide geographic span, IMC is still able treat approximately 125,700 people who would otherwise be medically secluded due to poor transportation, difficult road conditions, and poverty - even during the most brutal winter months. The clinics are equipped to treat Nuristan’s most common medical problems, including tuberculosis and other acute respiratory infections, diarrhea, worm infestations, typhoid, chronic malnutrition, and broken limbs.

The winter season brings with itself many serious health problems, one of them being pneumonia and bronchitis. Although this year there hasn’t been any serious cases reported in our areas of operation, we are very vigilant about such illnesses and prepare our medical staff to address these health problems in an urgent matter,” says Dr. Mohammad Jan.

Photo: IMC

A shepherd navigates his flock over one of Nuristan’s central, snow-covered roads

For a population in which 23 percent are of child-bearing age and 20 percent are under five, the health clinics also include reproductive health treatments and female doctors to preserve the safety of Nuristan’s mothers and children.

In June 2007, IMC began its Nuristan operations through an EC funded program with the acquisition of 110 health posts, three comprehensive health centers, ten basic health centers, and two sub-centers. As much of the country is buried by snow and transportation to other villages and provinces is made impossible, IMC’s role as a healthcare provider becomes even more critical to Afghanistan’s most isolated, impoverished populations. Not only does IMC deliver reliable medicine in the most destitute places year-round, but the careful winter preparation by the Afghanistan staff makes other survival items, like food and fuel, available to even the most isolated settlements once the sub-zero temperatures set in.

Dr. Mohammad Jan concludes, “Winters are normally very harsh in Afghanistan and it is one of the worst times of the year especially for the poor people of Nuristan who are in so much need for assistance and attention. Having external support, especially healthcare, is so important and IMC is here to help them.”