After three months of successful work in Kabul, the first medical team of Malteser (the emergency corps of the German Association of the Order of Malta), will return to Germany.

This medical team left for Kabul in Afghanistan on 31 July 2002, in order to take over on behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office the medical care for the international and local staff of the new UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and for the Afghan Police Service in Kabul. The team consists of 3 doctors, 4 paramedics and one x-ray assistant. In their mobile tent hospital which is located in the Police Academy in Kabul, our German doctors support the Afghan doctors of the Police Hospital with regard to the medical recruiting checks of the Afghan police recruits. Since the end of August 2002, the paramedics have started to run the first regular first aid trainings for the staff of the Kabul Police Academy.

A second medical team is ready to take over the duties in Kabul. The change of the team will be completed until the mid of November. The second team is planned to stay in Afghanistan for the next six months, that is until the end of April 2003.

Since October the 1st, Malteser also supports the hospital and 3 health centres of Badghis province in Qala-I-Nau, Afghanistan. With financial support of the German Foreign Office, Malteser supply medicine and medical equipment in order to enable the hospital to provide essential primary health care services. Due to bad weather, there has been a delay in the construction of the remaining schools and health centres, but they will in any case be completed before winter.