Medical conference unites, strengthens region

PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Medical personnel throughout eastern Afghanistan gathered at Forward Operating Base Thunder to attend the inaugural Eastern Afghanistan Medical Leadership Conference held Jan. 22-23.

The two-day conference, the first of its kind, focused on improving leadership within the eastern Afghanistan medical zone and coordinating medical services among the Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police, Afghan Border Police and the Ministry of Public Health.

Eastern Afghanistan Regional Medical Commander, ANA Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Sultan Gul Totakhil, hosted the conference. Represented were the kandaks, brigades and corps within the ANA, ANP and ABP, as well as regional civilian medical personnel.

The conference brought medical leadership together to establish an integrated and comprehensive medical region in eastern Afghanistan. Unit representatives gave a presentation on the status of their resources and the challenges facing them.

Totakhil said this conference created opportunities to improve coordination and communication between the units, and allowed members in the field to share experiences and learn from one another.

Totakhil gave one such example.

The ANA’s 201st Corps has a specific location within their medical center for patients requiring long-term treatment, and during this conference the ANA’s 203rd Corps decided they were going to implement that program and build a location similar to that of the 201st Corps, said Totakhil.

All the representatives are sharing and learning, the military and the civilians, and the communication is leading to good training, said Totakhil.

One of the speakers at the medical conference was Dr. Khan Agha Miakhil, the Provincial Public Health Director for Paktya Province.

"Communication is key and making it stronger is the first step,” said Miakhil. “Improving communication with our military brothers is a way of learning from their experiences. This conference was used as a venue to share experiences and problems; we explained our problems and solved them through others’ experiences and ideas.”

The medical conference is the first of many future conferences to be held to improve the coordination of regional healthcare providers, both military and civilian, and to deliver seamless healthcare to the residents of eastern Afghanistan.

Afghan Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Shir Shah Ahmadi, the Deputy Surgeon General of Administration for the Ministry of Defence, was both a speaker and participant at the conference.

In 2014, Coalition Forces are going to give the security of Afghanistan back to Afghanistan, “For that reason, we are trying to strengthen our medical relationships, we need to get ready for it and have good working relationships already in place,” said Ahmadi.

“Conferences such as this will help us [Afghan medical teams] strengthen communication and be prepared when the security transition takes place,” said Ahmadi. “This conference gives us a way to build new and fresh communication between the medical units and helps in identifying problems and fixing them.”

Totakhil added, “Right now is a great opportunity, Coalition Forces are mentoring and training Afghan medical personnel, now is the time to begin these conferences.

“In 2014 the security transition is going to happen and for this reason we [Afghan medical teams] have to have conferences such as this to not only prepare for it, but to enable us [Afghans] to stand on our own two feet, said Totakhil.”