President Hamid Karzai raised concerns Sunday over the lack of standard health facilities in Afghanistan and expressed disapproval at the use of intimidation by security officials to obtain free health care for relatives.
Addressing the National Conference on the Improvement of Medical Ethics in Afghanistan, he noted that Afghanistan is among the countries with the least developed health care and science sectors.
"We need lots of time to improve the quality of the medical sector; however, we are trying hard to make progress," he said.
Karzai acknowledged that some members of the Afghan security forces intimidate medical care providers to treat their relatives for free and vowed to discuss the issue with the relevant government organs.
"One of the ICRC's (International Committee of the Red Cross) leaders told me that security forces are using intimidation to get treatment for their relatives," Karzai said. "No one should use force or their official position to treat their patients."
Insecurity, the insurgency and a lack of medical facilities and equipment are some of the main challenges to offering basic health care to the Afghan people.