KABUL, April 8: Afghanistan’s most sophisticated children’s hospital was formally opened on Saturday in the presence of President Hamid Karzai and Bernadette Chirac, wife of French President Jacques Chirac. The eight-million-euro ($9.67-million) French Medical Institute for the Child brings cutting-edge expertise and equipment to one of the world’s poorest countries, still battling to recover from 25 years of war.

“We are pleased today to see Afghan children treated in their own country,” Mr Karzai said at the ceremony.

Afghans frequently travel to neighbouring Pakistan and Iran for treatment because of the inadequacy of the country’s own health system.

The hospital “is a symbol of the reconstruction of your country”, said Mrs Chirac.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy and his Afghan counterpart Abdullah Abdullah also attended the ceremony.

The institute on Monday performed the country’s first open heart surgery, on a 13-year-old girl.

It was set up by French non-governmental organisation “Enfants Afghans” (Afghan Children) and the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismaili sect, has stepped in to cover the running costs, estimated to reach $3 million this year.

The Aga Khan told the ceremony that Afghanistan faced difficult health challenges. One in four children died before the age of five while 165,000 out of one million died in the month after birth, he said.—AFP