Afghanistan's Second National and International Health Exhibition opened in Kabul on Wednesday at the Afghanistan International Exhibition Centre. Organised by the Ministry of Public Health, the five-day event is showcasing medicines, medical equipment and healthcare products.
The exhibition features 300 booths, with Afghan companies joined by firms from India, Iran and Turkey. Opening the event, Sheikh Noorulhaq Anwar, head of the Administrative Office, said the health sector had made significant progress since the Islamic Emirate came to power, with closer attention to the quality of food and medicines and steps to curb the smuggling of substandard and illegal products.
Economy Minister Qari Din Mohammad Hanif said diagnostics, pharmaceutical quality control and service delivery had improved considerably in recent years. A stronger health system at home, he said, would reduce Afghans' need to travel abroad for treatment and keep capital in the country.
Mawlawi Hamdullah Zahid, deputy minister for food and drugs, called the exhibition a platform to attract domestic and foreign investment in drug manufacturing, medical equipment and specialised hospitals. He said the ministry had signed cooperation agreements with Uzbekistan and Iran, with similar deals expected with Kazakhstan, Belarus, Russia and Turkey. Afghan Red Crescent director general Sheikh Shahabuddin Delawar said facilities had been developed at home to treat patients who once had to go abroad.