Sadly, prolonged conflict in Afghanistan has affected all aspects of Afghan society, inflicting negative economic, psychological and health impacts on the people. The impacts of the war are multifaceted and while most material losses can be easily compensated, human casualties often take much longer to address and recover from. COMAC provides tailored medical assistance to victims of the conflict who sustain serious injuries and are otherwise unable to obtain the medical care they require.
To facilitate this, COMAC has developed a network of service providers and NGOs to whom it refers injured victims for medical services.
On May 24, 2018, Ganjeena, a playful 7-year-old girl from Baghlan province, almost lost her left arm to a landmine explosion. The incident occurred while she was playing with her younger sister Zanjeera outside their home in Qeshlaqe Payen area of Jalga district. Ganjeena sustained severe injuries to her upper left arm while her younger sister was slightly injured. Her father, Khairullah, consulted local doctors for Ganjeena’s treatment. The doctors advised him that his daughter’s arm would need to be amputated as the costs to save it required travel to Kabul where the needed specialist treatment was available, and this was beyond Khairullah’s means.
Kunduz Regional Hospital informed COMAC’s Health Specialist, a doctor, of Ganjeena and her family’s situation. He immediately contacted Khairullah to let him know COMAC would try to find a way to save Ganjeena’s arm. Khairullah told the doctor, “We live on the wage I earn daily. I can’t afford the treatment. The Hospital told me about your organization for assistance.”
Ganjeena is recovering and her upper left arm operation was successful at Avista Hospital in Kabul.
As a result of COMAC’s efforts, Ganjeena was transferred from Kunduz to Kabul’s Avista Hospital, where doctors operated twice on her arm and provided all services needed for her recuperation. Ganjeena is delighted that she is now out of danger of losing her arm and should regain its full use in the coming months.
“I had no money to pay for my daughters’ treatment. Not only did COMAC pay for my daughter’s treatment, but more importantly they saved my daughter’s arm from aputation thanks to their genuine healthcare services,” Kahirullah said.
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Ganjeena was helped as part of Blumont’s Conflict Mitigation Assistance for Civilians (COMAC) program. COMAC provides comprehensive victims’ assistance services to Afghan civilians and families suffering from injury or loss as a result of ongoing conflict by delivering direct and indirect assistance. The program also builds government capacities and conducts advocacy and outreach activities. The program is funded by USAID.
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