The Herat Public Health Department announced that several types of complex and advanced surgeries have started in Herat hospitals for the first time with the closure of Pakistani border ports and the reduction of patient transfers to the country.
According to officials from this department, operations such as the removal of brain and spinal cord tumors, surgery for esophageal, stomach, lung, and liver cancer, as well as the removal of cancerous tumors of the thyroid and mammary glands are among these new surgeries.
Ghulam Mohammad Hanifi, Deputy Director of Public Health in Herat, said, “Operations that our compatriots used to refer to foreign countries for are now being performed in Herat with the opportunity and increased knowledge of local specialists, and it is rare to find a patient who travels abroad for treatment.”
One of the most prominent cases is the successful surgery for a cancerous brain tumor on a female patient named Shegofa, which was performed for the first time in Afghanistan.
The operation took several hours, and the patient was kept conscious during the surgery to prevent paralysis of the arms and legs.
Neurosurgeon Mohammad Younis Iqbal called this procedure “rare in the world,” adding that such surgeries are mainly performed in European countries and the United States, and are very rare in neighboring countries.
The Herat Public Health Department emphasized that in recent months, dozens of Afghan specialist doctors have returned to the province from different countries, and these returns, along with advances in the health sector, have prevented many patients from visiting neighboring countries.
