Ghazni residents build health centre at own expense, seek help with equipment — Pajhwok

GHAZNI CITY (Pajhwok): Residents of Jaghatu district in southern Ghazni province have built a health centre through their own financial contributions and collective efforts, but say they need medical equipment, medicines and qualified healthcare workers to make it operational. Residents said Sarab Dara was a remote area of Jaghatu where people had faced numerous difficulties accessing healthcare services over the years. They added that this was the first time in a century that a health centre had been built in the area. Malik Mohammad Ali Esmatzada, a local elder, told Pajhwok that residents had contributed according to their financial means to construct the centre. Some donated 10 or 20 Afghanis, others hundreds or thousands, while some contributed as much as 10,000 or 15,000 Afghanis. He explained that although many residents faced economic hardship, the lack of healthcare services had compelled them to work together to build a health centre for their community. He noted that heavy snowfall and blocked roads during winter made travel to Ghazni city and surrounding areas difficult and sometimes completely impossible. In such circumstances, patients sometimes had to be carried on people’s shoulders in boxes or on stretchers for one or two days to reach healthcare facilities, he added. Esmatzada recalled that last winter, a seriously ill mother and her child were transported by helicopter with…