Herat to get specialized hospital for patients with blood disorders

Health officials in Herat province say a three-story Hematology Hospital will be built in the province to treat patients with blood disorders including leukemia.

Mohammad Asif Kabir, Deputy Health Director of Herat, said the foundation stone of the hospital was laid on Monday, November 28.

“It’s been for a long time that we wanted to build a hematology hospital and now it’s being constructed with the financial support of good people who live inside and outside the country, and that foundation stone was laid today with the coordination of the authorities in Herat,” said Kabir.

According to the officials, the construction of this project has been made possible by donors including a charity organization, businessmen and investors.

“The cost of this hospital will be paid with the financial assistance of benevolent people abroad, businessmen and investors of Herat,” said Hamidullah Khadim, head of Herat Chamber of Industries and Mines.

Doctors in the province meanwhile say that the number of children suffering from thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder characterized by less hemoglobin and fewer red blood cells in the body than normal, is increasing. According to them, about 600 children in the western region of the country are suffering from the disease.

Blood cancer cases are also on the rise.

“The number of cancer cases in Herat is higher than the 8,000 that we recorded, and this is an alarm for us,” said Asif Rahmani, head of the pediatric blood cancer department at Herat’s provincial hospital.

“Thalassemia children in the western region, which are about 600 children, unfortunately, do not have access to health services,” he said.