KHYBER: International medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), in collaboration with the health department, on Wednesday announced the successful completion of one year of providing maternal, newborn and cutaneous leishmaniasis services at Dogra Hospital in Bara tehsil here.
In a statement, the MSF said that since beginning support in July 2025, it had worked with the health department to strengthen the hospital’s capacity through a dedicated newborn unit, support for maternity services, improved referral systems and specialised care for people affected by leishmaniasis.
‘Ensuring that mothers and newborns can access timely, quality care is critical, particularly in areas where healthcare access has historically been limited. We remain committed to working with the health department to strengthen services at Dogra Hospital and support sustainable improvements in patient care,’ said MSF Country Representative in Pakistan Leila Umalatova.
The MSF said the collaboration supported the government’s initiative to upgrade Dogra Hospital from a Type D to a Type C secondary-care facility, significantly expanding its capacity and enabling the provision of a broader range of specialised and essential healthcare services.
Doctors at the hospital said the healthcare centre served communities in Bara and surrounding areas, including parts of Tirah Valley and Darra Adamkhel.
They said strengthening services at the hospital aimed to bring timely, quality care closer to communities facing barriers to accessing healthcare.
The doctors said the MSF-supported newborn unit became operational in September 2025 and had treated a total of 348 newborns by August 2026, with a reported neonatal mortality rate of 7.85 per cent.
In addition, the unit provided consultations to several newborns from the hospital’s maternity ward and surrounding areas. Before the unit was established, newborns requiring specialised assessment or care were routinely referred to larger hospitals in Peshawar, according to them.
The MSF said the newborn unit provided care for premature and sick newborns, including oxygen, thermal and feeding support, monitoring, medicines and laboratory services, and that the unit followed a zero-separation approach, allowing mothers to remain with their newborns throughout hospitalisation.
‘This supports breastfeeding and bonding while enabling mothers to participate actively in their newborns’ care. Mothers are also provided with a bed and three meals a day during their stay,’ it said in the statement.
The MSF also said it had supported the renovation of the hospital’s maternity ward, sanitary facilities, laundry and sterilisation services and provided critical staffing and other essentialsupport.
‘Women receive antenatal check-ups and care for complications following delivery, while patients requiring specialised services are referred to hospitals in Peshawar.
MSF has also strengthened the referral process by assessing patients before transfer and coordinating with receiving hospitals. An ambulance has been donated to the Health Department to support referrals in the district.
‘The partnership between MSF and the health department has been highly valuable in strengthening our capacity to deliver quality, patient-centered healthcare,’ said Dogra Hospital medical superintendent Dr Azzad Khan.
He said the MSF’s technical support and training had strengthened emergency, maternal and child healthcare, infection prevention and control, staff capacity building and essential hospital services.
MSF Project Coordinator Andualem Birhanu said the newborn unit, maternity and leishmaniasis clinic at Dogra Hospital served not only the communities of Bara but also people from surrounding areas who faced significant barriers to accessing specialised healthcare.