The construction of university veterinary clinic for Herat University (Afghanistan)

 

The project is co-financed in the framework of Poland's Development Co-operation Programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland in 2010 (Grant no.353/PZ/2010, project “The Fight against Poverty and Hunger through the Improvement of the Quality of Agricultural Education in Herat Province (Construction of University Veterinary Clinic)”)

In the framework of the project two-storey university veterinary clinic was built in Herat in Afghanistan, whose construction was completed on 21 December 2010. The ready-made clinic including furnishings was handed over by the Association to the University in Herat.

The whole cost of the project was 451 518,82 PLN, out of which 406 235,86 PLN constituted the grant obtained by the „Education for Peace” Association in the framework of the Polish Aid programme 2010 carried out by the Ministry of International Affairs of the Republic of Poland.

The construction project was outlined in close agreement with the university authorities.

Up till then veterinary students at the Faculty of Agriculture of Herat University had not had the opportunity to accomplish practical training, simultaneously acquired knowledge had been merely theoretic. The direct beneficiaries of the project included therefore over 700 students of the Institute of Veterinary and the Faculty of Agriculture of Herat University as well as the professors of the faculty and future generations of veterinary doctors that will be educated in the province of Herat. In the long run the operations of the university clinic will influence the level of education in the Agriculture Vocational School in Herat which 305 people attend. The benefits of the project will address the whole 350-thousand community of Herat and the neighboring villages. In the future the education of doctors and technicians will contribute to the increase of the quality of farming within the area of the whole province. This clinic is the first university clinic in the entire country.

The operations of the clinic, apart from educational activities of students, will include direct and specialist veterinary care over neighboring farms (15000 animals in near villages of Bagh-e Daszt, Ghor Darvas, Baghmorad, Daolat Khana, Bagh-e-Anzargah), which, through the increase of productivity and quality of agriculture in the province of Herat, will address the greater group of beneficiaries.

The outcomes of scientific researches that will support functioning of the clinic would make it possible to increase the quality of the veterinary diagnostics as well as the efficacy of treatment. The clinic will also carry out precautionary operations. Rabies is one of the particular problems occurring endemically in the area of Afghanistan, which afflicts population. Moreover, Brucellosis and tuberculosis kill not only animals but also people consuming infected dairy products. Therefore, relevant education and diagnostics in the framework of the operations of the clinic will allow for the possibility of the prevention of future disease of the families vulnerable to animal diseases.

In the province of Herat the „Education for Peace” Association have been operating for 4 years. In 2008 the Association initiated the construction of the school for women in Zendajan near Herat (handed over on 3 July 2009), and in 2009 the school in Herat was built (opening on 20 December 2009).

The city of Herat is the capital of the province of Herat, one of the 34 provinces in Afghanistan. 77% of the population of the province lives in the countryside. For 36% of the households (48% rural and 5% urban households) agriculture is one of the main sources of income, 20% of households make a living thanks to farming and poultry (65% of rural and 95% of urban households belonging to the shepherds of Kuchi tribe and 10% of rural households). Although agriculture and farming play such a vital role in the community of the province of Herat, there had not been up till then any veterinary clinic. It resulted in the lack of knowledge among farmers on farming and the cases of transmitting animal diseases to people (the lack of vaccination and deworming of home animals), which turns out to be the frequent cause of death, especially among children. The disease of home animals as well as the lack of the possibility of their treatment or prevention affect the level of living of the local community. In these circumstances the construction of the veterinary clinic of the University of Herat was particularly important.

The „Education for Peace” Association have planned to enlarge the veterinary clinic by other 2 floors in 2011, where the Institute of Plant Protection as well as a clinic of plant protection (the first in Afghanistan) will be established.

The building has been extended with two more floors in 2011 to accommodate the Plant Protection Institute for Herat University. This is the first institution of this kind in Afghanistan.