UNHCR Pakistan

QUETTA, Balochistan, 7 October 2004 (UNHCR) -- The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) donated medical equipment worth 1.2 million rupees ($20,000) to a hospital in Quetta on Thursday under a programme of assisting medical facilities that serve both Pakistanis and Afghan refugees.

The UNHCR donation, including an ultra-sound machine, a computer graphic printer, an electric generator and surgical equipment, was given to Lady Duffrin Hospital, Quetta, which is the only hospital in Balochistan dedicated to caring for women. The 160-bed hospital, established a century ago, also has a recognised nursing school for the training of grade “A” nurses.

"This is a way UNHCR can help share the burden of the Pakistani public and the government while they show great generosity in hosting millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan," Yousif Adam, the acting head of the UNHCR sub-office in Quetta, said as he handed over the equipment.

Yousif Adam, acting head of the UNHCR Sub-office Quetta, giving medical equipment to Dr. Arifa Anwar, Medical Superintendent of Lady Duffrin Hospital. UNHCR/B.Baloch

"We are not a developmental organization but UNHCR has done whatever has been possible to help hospitals or other institutions in the country that can benefit the people of Pakistan,” Mr Adam said.

The donation is part of a UNHCR policy of assisting hospitals in both Balochistan and North West Frontier Province that provide medical aid for Pakistanis and Afghan refugees. Last year UNHCR spent some five million rupees to upgrade the Chaman District Government Hospital in Balochistan.

Mr Adam said that the Lady Duffrin hospital was chosen by UNHCR for a donation this year because it is the only one in the province dedicated to providing care to women.

“The equipment is most needed for the hospital as the hospital is being run by a welfare trust on a no-profit no-loss basis,” said Dr. Arifa Anwar, Medical Superintendent of Lady Duffrin Hospital. “Patients from the far flung areas of the province, Afghanistan and Iran come to us for their treatment.”

She said the hospital could not afford to buy the equipment itself as most income went on staff salaries. “I thank UNHCR for this timely contribution and hope that, keeping in view our constraints and our selfless services, other organizations will also come forward,” said Dr Anwar.

UNHCR has been focused in Pakistan since March 2002 on assisting Afghan refugees to return home under a voluntary repatriation programme. This year UNHCR has assisted nearly 370,000 Afghans to go home, bringing the total in the past three years to more than 2.2 million. The programme will continue until March 2006 under a tripartite agreement between UNHCR and the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Pakistan

UNHCR helps the only women’s hospital in Balochistan