The Afghanistan Medical Council (AMC) said that 50% of the health sector services in the country are still substandard.

Officials of this council said in the opening ceremony of the provincial branch of the medical council in the southeast zone that AMC has started joint efforts with the relevant institutions for the purpose of standardizing health services in the country.

The provincial branch of this council was opened in the southeast of Paktia province.

Khesraw Yousufzai, head of the monitoring and evaluation department of AMC, said: “The Department of Monitoring and Evaluation of the Afghanistan Medical Council has decided to conduct a high-level evaluation of medical tourism.”

Najibullah, a member of AMC, said in this ceremony: “"Afghanistan Medical Council is supposed to start its activities in six zones, which today was the opening of the southeast zone or Paktia zone, which includes provinces such as Paktika, Ghazni, Khost.”

According to the officials in this council, based on a survey by the previous government, citizens spent more than $480 million dollars annually for the purpose of treatment in foreign countries, and this figure may have increased now.

“It is more than a billion dollar a year that goes out of Afghanistan,” said Ahmad Shah Shkohmand, a technical consultant of AMC.

Meanwhile, doctors considered the role of AMC important in standardizing health services. Doctors emphasized that the country's health system should be equal to international standards.

"The problems that exist in the medical sector will be solved by applying the principles of the Ministry of Public Health and the cooperation of the Ministry of Higher Education,” said Mohammad Sharif Furqani, head of medical department of Paktia university.

The Medical Council was established in 1397 (solar year) as an independent government department with the aim of standardizing and strengthening the health sector.