Qatar supports shipment of 8.7 MT WHO medical supplies to Kabul

GENEVA: A plane carrying 8.7 metric tons of life-saving medical and trauma supplies landed in Kabul on Saturday, the World Health Organization said.

This new shipment is set to benefit trauma patients and children with pneumonia in Afghanistan.

“A plane carrying 8.7 MT of @WHO life-saving medical and trauma supplies landed in Kabul today. This new shipment will benefit 2,500 trauma patients and 2,400 children with pneumonia in Afghanistan,” WHO tweeted on Saturday. “WHO is grateful to Qatar for its ongoing support to deliver essential health supplies for vulnerable people in Afghanistan. Today’s flight is the 3rd donated by Qatar to WHO this month,” the organization said in a subsequent tweet.

The supplies have been shipped from WHO suppliers’ facilities in Europe to Qatar and onward to Kabul, Afghanistan, in collaboration with the operations and logistic teams of Qatar Airways and the Government of the State of Qatar.

WHO is exploring options to expedite further shipments of health supplies to Afghanistan.

Earlier on Tuesday, the second Qatar Airways flight had delivered supplies to Kabul. “The 2nd @qatarairways flight donated by Qatar landed in Kabul today, carrying life-saving WHO medical supplies. The shipment will cover the urgent health needs of 1 million people in Afghanistan. We thank Qatar for the support and solidarity,” WHO had said.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has said that the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is pretty desperate and called for urgent aid to the country.

During a press conference in Islamabad on Friday, Grandi had described the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan as “pretty desperate” and stressed that food, medicines, shelter and other necessities are needed urgently.

Earlier this week, the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), specifying the importance of “equal and meaningful participation” of women in public life.

The resolution also emphasizes “the importance of the establishment of an inclusive and representative government”, in the wake of the Taliban takeover on 15 August. It further highlights the importance of “upholding human rights, including for women, children and minorities.” (ANI)