Ghanam Ranga is a 19-year-old woman from a nomad family in Lashkargha village, Afghanistan. Her family, amongst many others, was displaced due to the conflicts in the country.
When BRAC Afghanistan established an emergency team for Internally Displaced People (IDPs), an older woman came and requested a female health service provider to check on her daughter-in-law Ghanam, who was ill.
Societal norms prevent women in Afghanistan from venturing out of their homes. It is not an unusual request, so the BRAC team scheduled a visit to her home. Our Health programme team found Ghanam to be pregnant. She couldn’t walk properly and was experiencing body pain, fever, anorexia, and a chronic cough. When asked if she had taken any medication yet, she shared that she had received no medical attention and her ailments were neglected.
BRAC Afghanistan team registered her for Antenatal Care (ANC) and prescribed some tonics and antipyretics. However, a few days later, the team went back to Ghanam’s to follow up, and she was diagnosed with TB and Brucellosis. Our team quickly took action to help her recover. Nomad families usually do not stay in one place for too long, but they stayed there for three months for their vaccination and Ghanam’s treatment.
