-300 tons of goods handed over to Afghan authorities
By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Another 27 trucks carrying 300 tons of medicines and food were handed over to Afghan authorities Friday, as Pakistan continues to support Afghan people amidst the deteriorating humanitarian situation.
Under Pak Afghan Cooperation Forum, the relief items arranged by Al Khidmat Foundation were handed over to Afghan authorities at Zero Line at the Torkham border. Chairman of Pak Afghan Cooperation Forum Habib Ullah Khattak, President Alkhidmat Foundation Khalid Waqas, directors of Alkhidmat Foundation Ijaz Ullah Khan and Asif Jamal Dir attended the event.
On the Afghanistan side, the consignment was received by Deputy Health and Education Minister Engineer Muhammad Ismaeel Rohani, Director Refugees Molvi Sherzad and Incharge Coordination at Torkham Hafiz Mohammad.
Earlier, the Forum also arranged free eye camp at Kabul and Khost where the Pakistani doctors carried out surgeries as well as checked the patients without any charge.
The Pakistani doctors had performed 530 cataract surgeries and examined 8120 Patients in Kabul and Khost. Around 324 Cataract Surgeries were performed and 2670 patients were examined at free eye camp held at Public Health Office Khost.
Around 206 cataract surgeries were performed and 5450 patients were examined at free eye camp in Jinnah Hospital Kabul.
After his surgery, a patient thanked the Forum for his treatment what he said would have been difficult as the health infrastructure of the war-torn country was in dilapidated condition.
He said if done privately, the surgery would have cost him a huge money while at the eye camp, it was done without costing even as single penny.
In his comment, a Pakistani doctor referring to the WHO data, said around 400,000 people in Afghanistan were blind and another 1.5 million people suffered visual disability.
Earlier, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said on Sunday Pakistan has always been at the forefront in helping neighbouring Islamic country Afghanistan.
Talking to media before start of Extraordinary meeting of the Council of OIC Foreign Ministers he said Pakistan has been hosting 4 million Afghan refugees since many decades. After 41 years, an extraordinary OIC meeting was taking place in Pakistan, the Minister of State on Information said.
This meeting would send a message to the world that Pakistan would continue its efforts for a sustainable and stable Afghanistan. The minister said that a large portion of Afghanistan’s population suffered from hunger and poverty. He said today’s meeting was of great importance as people of Afghanistan could not be left alone in such a grim situation.
Now voices were being raised from within the United States regarding Afghanistan situation, he said. The people of Afghanistan need help on humanitarian grounds and the world should come forward at this critical time.
