Some 500,000 Afghans receive health assistance this year: IOM

Kabul, Oct 23 (IANS) The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it has been providing essential health services to people on the move and hard-to-reach Afghans in an effort to prevent the war-torn country' healthcare system from collapsing.

The agency said in a statement on its website that the "IOM has stood on the front lines of the UN's Covid-19 response in the country, with presence currently across four border provinces: Herat, Nimroz, Kandahar and Nangarhar", reports Xinhua news agency.

"Since the beginning of the year, almost half a million people have received essential health assistance from IOM. IOM's health teams now are rapidly preparing to increase capacity and adapt support to fill urgent gaps to help ensure that the Afghan health-care system does not collapse in the medium term," according to the UN agency.

The security situation in Afghanistan has remained generally calm but uncertain since the Taliban's takeover in August, while the economic situation has worsened in the country with higher unemployment rate and rising poverty.

UN agencies, aid organisations and a number of non-governmental organisations are racing against the time to deliver life-saving aid and supplies to crisis-hit Afghans ahead of winter.