"We fail to cure patients the way they should be cured"

KABUL -- Three infants lie on one mattress, struggling to breathe. One hasn't been vaccinated yet, and the other two await treatment for their pneumonia. Nurses pause at the bed from time to time, but the doctors are too busy to attend to the babies.

Indira Gandhi, the largest children's hospital in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, is struggling with severe overcrowding due to a jump in cases of pneumonia, asthma, and several other diseases. The facility has beds for 350 patients, but more than 500 are currently admitted.

That's why there are multiple patients stuck together on single beds. According to hospital officials, 1,000 to 1,200 patients are treated in the facility every day; many seen by the same doctor at the same time.

"Due to the rush of patients, we have no choice but to admit three to four patients in each bed at the same time, which means our doctors and nurses are caring for several patients simultaneously," says hospital director Nurulhaq Yousufzai.

Winter is always the busiest season, with multiple cases of respiratory infections like pneumonia, asthma and bronchitis.

The government-run hospital is in Kabul city, but treats patients from all around the country -- even the far-flung corners -- as it is considered one of the best public health care facilities for children. It has 200 doctors, 56 specialists, and 130 nurses. The majority of the patients admitted to the hospital are under three years old, the oldest, just 13.

Muhammad Tahir made the eight hour drive from Imam Saheb district of northern Kunduz Province with his two-year-old son. The young boy needed surgery and local doctors, lacking proper equipment, sent him to Indira Gandhi.

Tahir lamented the fact that the government does not provide local options for families like his. On the long trip to Kabul, he worried not only about his son's condition, but about security along the roads.

The hospital receives funding from the World Bank and is staffed by well-educated doctors, but some patients claim it lacks enough equipment and has failed to diagnose diseases.

Mansour's son was admitted to the hospital 10 days ago after a nine hour drive from their home.

His face full of exhaustion, Mansour blamed the doctors for failing to diagnose what is wrong with his son. He said doctors just hand out medicine, but won't say what has happened to him. He and his wife also became ill since arriving at the hospital and neither have slept in over a week; the hospital seems no closer to a diagnosis, or a cure.

"I brought my son from Badakhshan province for a cure," he said, "But the doctors failed to diagnose his problem. It would almost be better if my son died, so I and my wife could get rid of this headache."

Yousufzai says the hospital is well-equipped, with modern equipment and well-trained doctors, but it is severely strained.

"With the work overload, sometimes we fail to cure patients the way they should be cured," he explained. "Our mortality rate is five or six patients a day."

Indira Gandhi hospital was founded in 1966 with Indian government assistance, and named after Indian Prime Minister Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi.

The World Bank funds routine maintenance and provides medicine, but Afghanistan's healthcare system is hugely strained by the needs of a growing population.

With a shortage of hospitals, medical laboratories, diagnostic centers, and low quality medicine, hundreds of Afghans opt to try and bring their ailing family members abroad for treatment, particularly to Pakistan and India.