26 April 2020, NIICE Commentary 4243
Dr Aradhana Talwar
On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared (COVID-19) Coronavirus as a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ that eventually turned into a global pandemic on 11 March 2020. Ironically, the South Asian region, which constitutes 21 percent of the global population, forms just 1 percent of world’s total number of Coronavirus cases. The low number of recorded cases (as compared to China, the US, Italy, Spain, Iran, etc) may have been due to immediate effective measures undertaken by South Asian countries, such as lockdowns, social distancing practices, quarantining and so on.
Specifically, Afghanistan’s first COVID-19 case was reported on 24 February 2020 in the western province of Herat located on the border with Iran. At present, the COVID-19 cases have seen an upward surge with a total number of 1026 cases (as of 20 April 2020) with 131 recovered, and 32 deaths across the thirty provinces of Afghanistan. The most affected provinces in Afghanistan have been Kabul, Herat, Balkh and Kandahar along with at least one confirmed case of COVID-19 from the remaining provinces. According to various studies conducted, the number of confirmed cases in Afghanistan has increased drastically from the end of March, and specifically around 9-10 April 2020. Similarly, the reports also confirmed that the maximum number of cases per day occurred on 10 and 14 April 2020.
Scholars have attributed various reasons for the rapid widespread of the COVID-19 in the country which has become a cause of concern for international community. Afghanistan shares borders with two highly affected countries-Iran and Pakistan- and has witnessed a huge influx of refugees and migrants from the latter since the outbreak of this pandemic. Moreover, Iran shelters approximately 2.5 million Afghan refugees, and is a preferred country for Afghan students to pursue their higher education. According to International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports, the number of Afghans returning from Iran, increased rapidly amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, through Nimroz and Herat borders which reached up to 53,069 from 8 to 14 March 2020, and more than 145,000 in the entire month of March. Similarly, a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report states that around 1500 Afghans are returning from Iran to Afghanistan every day, thereby aggravating the fear of brining in the COVID-19 infection to the already war-ravaged and fragile nation. In the light of recent predictions made by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health, stating that around 16 million Afghans are at the risk of being infected, the massive influx of Afghan population from highly infected countries of Iran and Pakistan and the failure of the government to test them, has added tremendous strain on the health system of the impoverished country.
The turning of Afghanistan into a perpetual conflict zone has led to widespread poverty, and has drastically impacted the social indicators of the country including health. The state is already facing innumerable challenges in the health sector such as lack of medical equipment, inadequate access to health facilities due to poverty and the long distances between healthcare facilities and settlements, imbalance between Afghanistan’s health expenditure and the number of Afghan patients, and lack of optimum utilization of resources. In fact, according to Ministry of Public Health of Afghanistan, the country reported the highest number of polio cases in the world in 2018. The underdeveloped health system of the state led to Afghans spending around USD 300 million per year in medical treatments abroad, mainly in India, Pakistan and Turkey. COVID-19 has further aggravated the problems of Afghanistan which finds itself amidst constant violence and political chaos. The shaky health infrastructure of the state is demonstrated in the fact that there are inadequate testing labs and quarantine facilities in proportion to the affected population and there is a shortage of health-care workers. In the initial stages of the spread of COVID-19, there was only one testing centre, the central laboratory of Public Health Ministry of Afghanistan. This was also the stage which saw a massive influx of Afghans from neighbouring countries, who may be the potential carriers of the disease.
Afghanistan’s economy is import and aid dependant, with approximately 50 percent of the population living below the poverty line. The closed borders with neighbouring countries and the recent declaration by the US administration to cut USD 1 billion dollar due to domestic political chaos, both have resulted in sky-rocketing prices of basic necessities such as food, raw materials, home products, face-masks and sanitizers (in the initial stages) in Afghanistan. However, one cannot negate the steps taken by Afghanistan government in dealing with the deadly Coronavirus. The government has implemented lockdown and public and private schools have been asked to shut down. Further, large sports events and social gatherings including wedding celebrations attracting more than thousand guests have been banned. However, there have been cases of defying the social distancing norms, and reports suggesting that people are escaping from quarantine facilities. This may be either because Afghan people still have not realized the disastrous consequences of the spread of Coronavirus or simply because they have lived their entire lives in the fear of violence that this pandemic seems to be no threat for them.
The need of the hour for Afghanistan is support from the international community and regional cooperation to address the challenges faced by the war affected country. To begin with, violence in any form should stop in Afghanistan, and both, the civilian government and Taliban should ensure a peaceful environment in the country. The government itself should safeguard political stability and take necessary measures to avoid any future domestic imbroglio which can divert Afghanistan’s resources and energy from dealing with the pandemic. At an international level, in spite of grants and assistance sanctioned by donors and agencies, there is a general fear that the nation would spin into a catastrophe unparalleled to eighteen years of war.
At the regional level, India, one of the important stakeholders in the Afghanistan narratives, has highlighted its policy of supporting all ‘friendly countries’ in the neighbourhood to help fight the spread of COVID-19. Likewise, India took a lead and organized a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Video Conference on 15 March 2020 wherein it was decided that a SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund would be created. With an objective of financially assisting South Asian countries including Afghanistan, India has already committed USD 10 million to the SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund. Moreover, recently Indian army is preparing to send a team to Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to help them set-up testing laboratories and train the medical workers. In spite of such efforts, the situation in Afghanistan appears extremely gloomy and the question still remains-can we ever see a peaceful and stable Afghanistan in the future?
