US army provides medical aid to villagers

Sayed, northwest of Bagram 1. Wideshot of Bagram 2. US army soldier examining ears of young girl 3. People queuing to see medics 4. Children rush forwards 5. Various of baby being examined 6. Toys being given out 7. Medic gives medicine to young girl 8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sergeant White, US Army "It's two sided, one thing we want to do is to help the individuals in the community, but we also instill into the people that we're here to help them, we're here to do the right thing by the people of Afghanistan." 9. Various of medics giving medicine to livestock 10. Various of soldiers and villagers in Bagram STORYLINE: Sayed is a remote village, north west of Bagram, about three hours drive from Kabul. Here the US army medical corp has set up a temporary medical centre for villagers. Army medics treated children for respiratory infections, diarreoah, malnutrition, ear infections and gave guidance on hygiene. They also vaccinated many animal stocks against viruses. There's a desperate need throughout Afghanistan for medical supplies and treatment, and demand mostly outstrips resources. It's more than one year since the fall of Kabul and people throughout Afghanistan are in great need of medical supplies. The Children's Hospital in Kabul is also desperate for supplies and funds. Some assistance has been coming. There is more medicine today than under the Taliban, because international agencies have a greater presence. But many say it's not enough. Decades of war have decimated Afghanistan's infrastructure. At a conference on aid to Afghanistan held in January in Tokyo, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said US 10 (b) billion US dollars would be needed to rebuild this war-shattered nation. The world pledged 4-point-5 (b) billion US dollars, but so far not even one billion has been forthcoming. The U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, reported last week that an Afghan woman dies in childbirth every 20 minutes. The report emphasized the woeful state of the country's health care. It said three-quarters of babies born to mothers who die in childbirth will themselves die within the first year of life, mostly from malnutrition due to lack of breast milk. The global charity CARE International looked at the international aid given to countries following conflicts and discovered Afghanistan was at the bottom of the list. On average, donors pledged Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo and East Timor 250 US dollars per person. To Afghanistan they pledged 75 US dollars per person in 2002 and 42 US dollars per person over the next five years. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/bbf3dc766f462da98cd779a2586eef42 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork