FMIC launched the construction of the Mother and Child House and the expansion of its postgraduate medical education building with two foundation stone laying ceremonies today.
The Mother and Child House, located on land adjacent to FMIC’s current premises, will provide a temporary ‘home away from home’ for sick children and high-risk pregnant women and their families travelling from the remote rural areas of Afghanistan. By providing accommodation, travel and healthcare assistance through a patient welfare programme, FMIC aims to provide access and support to the most vulnerable of children and women from every province of the country.
The new facility will accommodate as many as 100 patients a month, offering medical and surgical care at minimal cost. FMIC aims to introduce several new services for children and their parents including pre- and post operative care, educational support and recreational activities. While children will be treated at the existing hospital, mothers will receive care at the new high-risk 45-bed maternity centre - funded by La Chaine de L’Espoir and the French Embassy through Agence Française de Développement - due to open in 2015.
This facility builds on the Afghan Children’s House project initiated by La Chaine de L’Espoir in March 2008 to provide healthcare access to those distant from Kabul. “The new mothers and children’s house will be a big help for underprivileged families in Afghanistan,” said Dr Eric Cheysson, President of La Chaine de L’Espoir. “The current project has already helped more than 3,500 children from all the Afghan provinces, welcoming them, caring for them, funding necessary medical care or surgeries and monitoring their progress. We will now be able to offer the same to mothers.”
Speaking on the occasion, His Excellency Mr Jean Michel Marlaud, said, “This is a great project and will help the women and children of Afghanistan receive high quality healthcare.” He pledged the French Government’s support for FMIC and other programmes in Afghanistan.
The postgraduate medical education expansion will amalgamate the offices of the PGME faculty and residents in one building equipped with a state-of-the-art skills lab, library, classrooms and additional teaching and learning facilities. A videoconference link will enable communication with academic institutions and hospitals, both within and outside Afghanistan, for various academic programmes. The project has been funded by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development as part of a grant to improve maternal and newborn child health.
PGME graduates provide high quality specialty care and help fill the expanding needs of both FMIC and the healthcare system in Afghanistan. Training is currently offered in seven medical and surgical specialties including paediatric surgery, paediatric medicine, paediatric orthopaedics, paediatric cardiology, pathology, radiology and anaesthesiology; obstetrics and gynaecology specialty training will be initiated in 2016. At present, 36 residents are enrolled in the programme. By 2019, almost 100 residents will have completed training and entered practice.
“FMIC has achieved excellence in many fields in healthcare in Afghanistan,” said Her Excellency Nurjehan Mawani. “This institution is an example of a successful public-private partnership, with the Government of Afghanistan actively providing an enabling environment for its realisation.”
“This is a very special time for FMIC. We are moving according to our common vision to create a world-class healthcare delivery and educational facility with all partners of FMIC contributing. AKU is committed to continuing to support activities at FMIC and healthcare in Afghanistan,” said Mr Lee Hilling, Chairman of FMIC’s Provisional Operating Committee, the hospital’s governing body.
Also attending were Mr Jocelyn Leveneur, Country Director, Agence Française de Développement; Ms Phedra Moon Morris, Head of Development, Embassy of Canada; Mr Shair baz Hakemy, President, Afghanistan National Council; and Mr Nadeem Khan, Regional Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan University.
