Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
Fighting continues to rage throughout Afghanistan between Coalition troops and insurgent forces. Its impact on the civilian population is increasingly severe.
The number of war casualties taken to Mirwais Regional Hospital in Kandahar for treatment is hitting record highs. The hospital registered almost twice as many new patients with weapon-related injuries in August and September 2010 as during the same months last year – close to 1,000 compared with just over 500 during the same period in 2009.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg, as those who suffer other sorts of injuries or contract disease as an indirect result of the conflict far outnumber weapon-wounded patients," said Reto Stocker, head of the ICRC delegation in Kabul. Every day, there are mothers who bring their sick children to hospital too late because they are afraid to travel or are held up by roadblocks, and relatives who take patients home before their treatment is completed.
A man whose house was destroyed when their village was bombed, and who lost most of his family members has his injured hand washed by hospital staff in Mirwais Hospital, Kandahar City, Afghanistan on the 20th October, 2010.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
A young boys stands in the doorway of the OPD room in which a man has just been admitted as Dead on Arrival after the car he was travelling in hit an IED on a road in Dand, a district near to Kandahar, in Mirwais Hospital,Kandahar, Afghanistan on the 19th October, 2010.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
A medic holds up a death certificate on which is written the cause of death as "Big Wounds" in an OPD room in which a man has just been admitted as Dead on Arrival after the car he was travelling in hit an IED on a road in Dand, a district near to Kandahar, in Mirwais Hospital,Kandahar, Afghanistan on the 19th October, 2010.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
A boy who fractured his leg while running from the scene of a shooting waits with his mother in a corridor in Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan on the 19th October, 2010.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
Akhtar Mohammed, who received a gun shot wound while driving his truck through a street in Kandahar City is treated by medical staff in the male Intensive Care Unit of Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan on the 19th October, 2010.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
A woman sits with her child who was suffering from severe diarreah in the paediatric unit of Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan on the 19th October, 2010. She had travelled from Faria Province toMirwais as it was the only hospital recommended to treat the severity of the condition and had taken her four days to reach by which time the childs condition was a lot worse.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
Noman, 7 years old, and who suffers from the rare blood disease, Thalassemia, patiently waits while he has a blood transfusipn in the paediatric unit of Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan on the 19th October, 2010. He has lost two siblings to the genetic disease, and although treatable in developped countries, is unlikely to be able to get the treatment he needs in Kandahar due to the ongoing war.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
24 year old Bibi lies on the floor of the maternity unit in Mirwais Hospital after walking for two days to reach it from the Arghandab valley with her mother in law (pictured). Due to insecurity they were held up at numerus check points along the way.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
Arepa a little girl who has been suffering from diarreah and malnurishment for a year lies in the therapuetic feeding centre that is supported and run by the ICRC in the paediatric unit of Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan on the 19th October, 2010.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
An elderly man who lost both his legs in an IED blast near Zhari District of Kandahar last year waits in a wheelchair surrounded by members of his family to get his prosthetic legs in Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan on the 19th October, 2010.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
A taxi arrives with some war wounded patients to the ICRC compound in Kandahar City, Afghanistan on the 20th October, 2010. After the patients are checked they will be referred to the OPD unit of Mirwais Hospital next door and the taxi driver will return to be paid.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
Taj Mohammed was badly injured in the leg when a bomb exploded in Mirwais Mina, a district of Kandahar in early October. He is undergoing treatment in Mirwais Hospital, Kandahar City, Afghanistan on the 20th October, 2010.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
Women cover themselves in burqas as they wait in the maternity ward of Mirwais Hospital, Kandahar City, Afghanistan on the 20th October, 2010.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
A dead body is wheeled into the OPD unit of Mirwais Hospital, after being dropped off by an ANA (Afghan National Army) ambulance that had brought the corpses from the nearby ISAF base after a bombing had killed them in the area of Panjawi, near Kandahar City, Afghanistan on the 20th October, 2010.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
Aisha, who is nine months pregnant, was shot through the neck when fighting broke out in her village several weeks ago. She had to walk to the hospital with her mother and is now waiting to give birth in Mirwias Hospital in Kandahar City, Afghanistan on the 20th October, 2010.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
An elderly man whose house was destroyed when a plane bombed their village and who lost most of his family in the bombing, lies in the OPD unit in Mirwais Hospital, Kandahar City, Afghanistan on the 20th October, 2010.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
A boy practices walking with his prosthetic legs, after he lost both in an IED explosion, at the ICRC orthopaedic centre in Kabul, Afghanistan on the 24th October, 2010.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
Zulmia sits with her eight year old son Mohammed who is in a coma after contracting meningitis due to an untreated infection in the paediatric unit of Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan on the 19th October, 2010. Due to ongoing conflict the majority of children in the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar are unable to get simple vaccines, making them vulnerable to avoidable diseases.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
Farhad, who is 14 years old contracted polio as a child and is now receiving assistance at the ICRC orthopaedic centre in Kabul, Afghanistan on the 24th October, 2010. Children like Farhad were unable to recieve essential basic vaccinations for prevantable illnesses like Polio due to ongoing insecurity throughout the country.
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Afghanistan VII, Civilian Toll
October 2010
An elderly man sits at the end of a bed in which is son lies after being admitted to the OPD room in Mirwais Hospital, after suffering an epelepetic fit in Kandahar, Afghanistan on the 19th October, 2010.
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