Afghanistan IX
Human Cost of War, January 2011
As the war intensifies throughout Afghanistan it is becoming increasinly difficult for international aid organisations to operate. In January I travelled to Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, to photograph in the only provincial hospital in the region, that is supported by MSF. Local health centres have ceased to function in the area and people throughout Helmand have no access to healthcare.
Women are often relutctant to travel to the hosptial alone because deteriorating security situation throughout the province. They would prefer to suffer at home than have to make this dangerous journey. The few that do make it are often desperately ill, and all tell harrowing stories of how their daily lives are scarred by a seemingly never ending battle.
A grandfather comforts his grandson who is waiting to see a doctor in the OPD unit of Bost Hospital, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan, on the 22nd January, 2011.
A man carries an elderly man on his back to the Emergency Unit of Bost Hospital, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan, on the 22nd January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.- A man fingers his prayer beads outside the OPD unit of Bost Hospital in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan on the 24th January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- Woman hold their children , who are suffering from measles, in the isolation ward of Bost Hospital, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan, on the 22nd January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- Patients wait outside the OPD unit of Bost Hospital, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan, on the 22nd January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- A man walks passed a street sign of Lashkar Gah, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan on the 24th January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- An elderly woman nurses her grand daughter who is suffering from a chest Infection at the Bost Hospital, that is supported by MSF, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, on the 20th January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- Abdullah, a shepherd, lies in the Emergency Room at the Bost Hospital, after being transferred from the ISAF military hospital where he was medi-vacced to after being shot in the leg, resulting in an amputation, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, on the 20th January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distance along dangerous roads to reach the only hospital in the province.
- A woman, covered in a Burqa, holds her daughter while waiting to see a doctor in the female emergency room at Bost Hospital, that is supported by MSF, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, on the 20th January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distance along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- Bibi, an 8 year old girl, lies on a stretcher waiting to be admitted to a ward, after being transferred from the ISAF hospital in Shorabak, following treatment for shrapnel wounds at the Bost Hosptial Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan, on the 20th January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- An elderly man waits to be seen by a doctor in the Emergency Room of the Bost Hospital, Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan, on the 21st January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- Salim, an eight year old boy, accompanied by his grandmother, Hajji, is treated for an allergy to some medicine he was given in a private clinic in the Bost Hospital, Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan, on the 21st January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- Salim, an eight year old boy, accompanied by his grandmother, Hajji, is treated for an allergy to some medicine he was given in a private clinic in the Bost Hospital, Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan, on the 21st January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- People wait outside the Emergency Room at the Bost Hospital, Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan, on the 21st January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- Lhatifa, who got eighty percent burns after igniting oil over herself after an argument with her husband, lies in the burns unit of the Bost Hospital, Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan, on the 21st January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- A grandmother nurses her young granddaughter in general ward of Bost Hospital, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan, on the 21st January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- Drugs are lined up in a dirty wooden box in the nurses room in the Bost Hospital, Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan, on the 21st January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- A nurse administers vitamins to a young malnourished child in the therapeutic feeding unit at Bost Hospital, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan, on the 22nd January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- A young boy lies on a stretcher after being admitted to Bost Hospital, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan, on the 22nd January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- Patients wait to see a doctor in the OPD unit in Bost Hospital, Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan on the 23rdJanuary, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- Children wait with their mothers to receive a vaccination in Bost Hospital, Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan on the 23rd January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- Young boys play in the street next to a vendor selling nuts in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan on the 24th January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- A young boy, who has a skin infection on his head, waits to see a doctor in the OPD room of Bost Hospital, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan on the 24th January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
- A girl sits next to a bucket of sharps, while blood from her cut finger drips onto the floor in the OPD room of Bost Hospital in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, Afghanistan on the 24th January, 2011. After nearly ten years of war in Helmand, thousands of people are unable to access healthcare, having to travel long distances along dangerous roads to reach Bost, the only hospital in the province.
