The Palestinian International Cooperation Agency (PICA), in cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), has completed the implementation of the first phase of a development cooperation programme in the medical field for the benefit of Afghanistan’s health sector . The program was initiated in coordination with the Ministry of Health of the State of Palestine, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Health and the countries’ embassies.
The implementation of this program is within the context of strengthening trilateral cooperation and South-South cooperation through the reverse linkage mechanism of IsDB, with the aim of exchanging expertise and specialized knowledge of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation OIC). The program serves the objectives of the organization and the interest of the beneficiary and contributing countries’ expertise which enhances trilateral cooperation and South-South cooperation.
The Palestinian delegation, including the Director General and the Central Asian File Officer of PICA and a number of specialized doctors from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, carried out its mission from 3 to 11 May 2021. The second phase is to be implemented in full cooperation with IsDB in mid-July 2021.
The programme focused on specialized training, joint operations and patient examinations, in addition to assessing the health situation in several hospitals. Palestinian doctors also provided training to more than 180 doctors and medical students, and several operations were carried out in the areas of emergency, burns and wounds in many hospitals in Kabul (Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital, Istiqlal Hospital, Republic National Hospital, etc.)
The doctors’ programme included surgical operations, providing specialized lectures for medical students and training courses for trainers and doctors in the agreed areas for nine days. IsDB’s field representative office in Afghanistan assisted in implementing PICA’s program in the country. The program also included a number of important meetings between the Minister of Finance, theGovernor of IsDBin Afghanistan, the Minister of Health and directors of international and non-governmental organizations working in Afghanistan.