TİKA Opened a Rehabilitation Center at Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment in Afghanistan

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency’s (TİKA) Program Coordination Office in Kabul opened a Rehabilitation Pool and a water well at the 1,000-bed Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment.

TİKA built a rehabilitation pool at Afghanistan’s largest drug treatment hospital in order to reduce drug abuse, which is a major problem in Afghanistan and around the world, and to support the treatment of drug addicts. In addition, a 150-meter-deep water well was opened to support the rehabilitation center and the infrastructure of the entire hospital. TİKA’s Office in Kabul held an opening ceremony for these projects and made them available to the hospital.

The opening ceremony held for the rehabilitation pool and water well at Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment was attended by Cihad Erginay, the Republic of Türkiye’s Ambassador to Kabul; Mawlawi Habibullah Akhundzada, Deputy Minister of Public Health of Afghanistan; Sheikh Abdul Nasir Mounkhad, Chief Physician of Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment; Ahmed Tukur, Deputy President of Turkish Maarif Foundation; Ferid Ahmet Ziya, Head of the Turkish Red Crescent’s Delegation in Afghanistan; Zühtü Çal, TİKA’s Coordinator in Kabul; Cengiz Aydemir, Educational Attaché of the Turkish Embassy in Kabul; press members; and other invitees.

At the opening ceremony, Ambassador Erginay stated that there are approximately 3.5 to 4 million drug addicts across Afghanistan and that they contribute to reducing drug abuse in the country. Noting that the project would contribute greatly to the fight against addiction, Erginay said that the way to reduce drug abuse is to encourage farmers to grow harmless crops that bring in high revenue and have the same cost as drug crops. Erginay added that Türkiye will stand in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, as it has always done, and will continue to provide assistance in various fields. He said that he hoped drug abuse and production will be reduced significantly across Afghanistan.

Mawlawi Habibullah Akhundzada, Deputy Minister of Public Health of Afghanistan, said that he was happy to attend the opening ceremony of the project, and that the fight against drugs is one of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Public Health of Afghanistan. Akhundzada stated that the Ministry faced several problems when working on reducing drug abuse and that drug addicts make up 10 percent of Afghanistan’s total population. Akhundzada noted that there were a number of foreign-funded drug treatment hospitals, but that these hospitals could no longer provide services due to the cut-off of aid. Deputy Minister thanked TİKA for building such an equipped center and said that he hoped such assistance activities would continue.

Sheikh Abdul Nasir Mounkhad, the chief physician of the hospital, thanked TİKA for implementing this project and said that he hoped projects for the treatment of addicts would continue.

Zühtü Çal, Coordinator at TİKA’s Program Coordination Office in Kabul, noted that they built a Social Green Space Park at Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment in 2019 and put into service a cold-water rehabilitation pool, a 150-meter-deep water well, and a 26,000-liter water tank at the same hospital in 2021 in order to reduce drug abuse, which is a major problem in Afghanistan. Çal said, “It is our humanitarian and conscientious duty to treat drug addicts and reduce the number of addicts.” He added that they would continue to provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and implement development projects in every field in the country.

The ceremony ended after the presentation of gifts and on-site inspection of the projects.