Chinese Government provides $25 million grant for Jamhuriat Hospital Construction Project (Linked to Record ID#34502, #69992, #54775)

Project narrative

In 2005, the Chinese Government provided a $25 million grant to the Government of Afghanistan for 350-bed Jamhuriat Hospital Construction Project. This project involved the construction of 10-story hospital building with 350 beds and a total construction area of 16,611 square meters. A foundation stone laying ceremony for the hospital took place on November 2, 2006. The hospital was inaugurated on August 15, 2009. China Railway Shisiju Group Corporation, which is also known as China Railway 14th Bureau Group Co., Ltd., was the contractor responsible for project implementation. However, a year after the inauguration of the hospital, it was still empty due to staff shortages and the fact that the Government of Afghanistan had not allocated any operating funds to it. Then, in April 2011, Dr. Soraya Dalil, Afghanistan’s acting public health minister announced that the new building suffered from several problems, including a lack of surgery wards and a proper ventilation system. A second inauguration ceremony for this hospital was held on January 21, 2014. The hospital now provides 24-hour services and treats approximately 1,200 patients each day. Its services include: Cardiothoracic Surgery, Respiratory, Vascular Surgery, Neurology, Nephrology, Neurosurgery, Urology, Endocrinology, Oncology-Chemotherapy, and. Oncology-Radiotherapy. The hospital has two buildings: (1) a main building that has 10 floors with 1,000 rooms (with each floor allocated to a different kind of treatment), and (2) a four-story building that provide services for emergency patients, X-ray services, and administrative offices. The annual cost of operating the hospital is about $2.7 million. According to "Foundation Stone of China-funded Hospital Building Laid in Kabul", the project is different with Record ID#34502 which happened in 2003. Besides funding the construction of the main building, China will also equip the hospital with some medical furniture and instruments, according to agreements reached by the governments of China and Afghanistan, separately in 2003 and 2005.