KABUL, Oct 16, 2021 (BSS/XINHUA) - Doctors Without Borders, an

international medical aid agency also known by its French language acronym
MSF, continued to address Afghans' need, according to a statement posted on
the agency's website.

  "In August 2021, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (also known as the
Taliban) entered the city of Kabul as the government collapsed. MSF teams
have stayed in place and continue to provide care," the statement said.

  The agency said that as people struggle to access medical care in
Afghanistan, the MSF remains to address people's needs.

  "MSF focuses on emergency, paediatric, and maternal healthcare in
Afghanistan, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the
world," the statement noted.

  "We work in one hospital in Helmand province in collaboration with the
Ministry of Public Health. We also run a maternity hospital in rural Khost
province, a drug-resistant tuberculosis program in Kandahar, and a trauma
center in Kunduz. We treat malnourished children, who have been displaced, in
Herat province, where we also run a COVID-19 treatment center," according to
the statement.

  Attacks on MSF hospitals have occurred in recent years. In October 2015,
U.S. airstrikes destroyed an MSF trauma center in Kunduz, killing 42 people.
An armed group attacked a maternity wing at Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul
in May 2020, with 16 mothers and an MSF midwife among those killed.

  MSF was founded in 1971 in Paris by a group of journalists and doctors. It
has developed into a worldwide movement of nearly 65,000 people.