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Afghanistan: UN Population Fund sets up mobile hospital to bolster maternity health

Afghanistan: UN Population Fund sets up mobile hospital to bolster maternity health

Aiming to bolster maternity health services as refugees stream back to war-ravaged Afghanistan, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has set up an emergency mobile hospital in Kabul, a UN spokesman announced today.

Working with Denmark in response to a request for assistance from the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, UNFPA outfitted the hospital with one of the only maternity wards in Kabul, where health facilities are currently stretched to the limit.

The mobile hospital, which will operate 24 hours a day, is expected to handle 20 to 30 births every day, as well as about 2,000 medical inquiries, according to the spokesman.

In another development, the agency today welcomed the strong expression of support from the 133-member "Group of 77" developing countries, which sent a statement to the United States urging Washington to restore its contributions to the Fund.

The statement came in response to last month's decision by the US to withhold $34 million appropriated for UNFPA by Congress. Over 50 African countries had recently made a similar appeal in a letter to US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

"I am deeply gratified and moved by this strong support from the developing nations for UNFPA's efforts to help improve the health and well-being of millions of women, men, girls and boys in their countries," said Thoraya Obaid, the Fund's Executive Director. "I have been to Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and have seen the high demand for the health services we support."

She pledged that the agency would continue backing safe motherhood, working to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, providing access to quality and voluntary family planning services, and promoting girls' right to education.

In its communication, the Group of noted that the funding cut would "jeopardize programmes in many developing countries where UNFPA's support has been, and remains, critical for poverty eradication and for sustainable development."