Khost gets new medical university; water improvements made in Jalalabad

Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN) reported Saturday that the Ahmad Shah Baba Medical University was officially opened at a well attended inaugural ceremony. The private university is the first of its kind in the southeastern Khost province. It is fully equipped, and staffed by local and foreign teachers. There are currently 105 students, though there is capacity for more and recruitment efforts are under way. Governor Abdul Jabbar Naeemi, who attended the ceremony, said that while he acknowledges and understands the role and progress made by private medical universities, he is advocating that public universities work toward meeting these needs and competing with the private institutions in the future.

In other news, PAN reported last week that a new water supply has been put into service in the Ganda Chema area of Jalalabad city. Niamatullah Rahimi, the United Nations’ regional head told PAN that the system will supply 2,000 families with clean water in the Jalalabad first, second, and third zones. The $2 million Japanese funded system draws water through a 3,000 meter long pipe using a generator powered pump. It features two sources with each able to store 1,000 cubic meters of water. PAN also reported that according to Parvaiz Alishingai, head of the irrigation department, they previously were only able to bring water to 30 families and now they will be directly delivering clean water to 38 percent of the residents. Though the generator draws and delivers less water during times of hot weather, it will address the needs of Jalalabad residents who PAN reported as having problems accessing water when demand increases during summer.
http://www.goodafghannews.com/2012/0...-in-jalalabad/

Where do they find so many Afghan M.D's in Afghanistan, to teach these potential doctors? Expats?

read carefully and you will know

Yasmeenah, perhaps you didnt read what I said. Where do they find teachers to teach AFGHANS in KHOST who speak Pashto. You cant hire a Dutch M.D or Indian M.D to teach them, most can only speak Pashto, or Dari depending on their locality. They would need to hire Afghan M.D's.

^Most come from Europe or US, I know that the director of Khost univercity is a Khostai lived in Sweden and moved there to work at the uni, and I think a lot of courses are tought in English I guess, becuase in Belgium some of the courses I get are in English and our last year specialisation are mostly in English so I think it's the same in Khost also....

Sha sha. Poh swam.

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/...412865958.html

I saw this and it made me happy and then it made me sad. I may be speaking out of order but I recall that I was so very proud when KP Pashtuns told me about Rehman Medical Center and how a Pashtun had gone back and created a state of the art medical center. Yet with time and enquiry I was told that RMI generally serves those that can pay. I would not want to tarnish its name but its a story I was told again and again by guest medical students from Khaibar. They have introduced a medical school that appears to be gaining traction and recruiting Western educated Pashtuns. However, this indian surgeon appears to have done far more for India's system, status, and prestige. Alongside of a payer system, my hope is that Afghanistan mirrors this physician's efforts to provide for its destitute population.

Good news it seems!

India and Pakistan, are both plagued by that very problem. The elite, or failed Americans/Europeans end up attending those medical schools. For example, the other day I was at a local University, interacting with some Afghans/Pakistanis[pre-med] and they all pretty much said if they don't get into the med-schools of their choice, Caribbean/Asian med schools here we come with the Benjamins. I really hope hospitals can impose a ban on those Americans who end up attending those foreign schools because there is no way in the world a student of Rehman Medical center is going to end up being as well trained as say someone who graduated from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, or Columbia med.

I think I was referring more to the fact that Dr. Shetty started his hospital and named it, rather selflessly, the Naranyaar Institute. Its sort of reflective of the, say for instance the Cleveland Clinic, or some other world renowned center whose mantra centers around patient care and discovery. Rehman was educated at Edinborough and I think his intentions were probably fine... but Shetty thought on a more massive service oriented scale. He coupled a Robin Hood approach of full charge for the wealthy to subsidize the poor and also had something that every US hospital has, a social worker/care coordinator to make it easy for people to find ways to subsidize themselves.

I am sure that the Rehman Kids will be bright, and I think it would be unbecoming of any of us with even a hint of having studied biology to blame folks for seeking wealth (or rizk for the religious minded.) If you put honey on the ground, ants come to it. But the issue as you noted is that pockets of progress are hardly making due in Pashtunkhwa and Afghanistan proper. You have Buffett and Gates thinking about how to sustain intellect and give back to the system and it may just be impatience on our part to expect the same just yet from our own down trodden people. I guess I am just fascinated by how two surgeons, the Indian Shetty, and the Pashtun Rehman had similar ideas but different outcomes where one hospital (the Indian) reflects academia and service as well as a proper capitalist outcome and the other mirrors the concierge approach.

I may very well be wrong and the rich of Peshawar may be subsidizing the poor. As I said, I am basing this on oral reports from folks who studied in the region and then came here for rotations.