Herriot in Helmand – pioneering vet clinic in Taliban country
Under the watchful eye of Kalashnikov armed Afghan Army guards, perched on top of four-wheel drive Ranger vehicles as security look outs, a British Army Veterinary Officer and his moustachioed Sergeant Major survey the distant desert horizon for signs of movement. Both carry pistols at their waists. This is Helmand Province and Taliban country: unpredictable and dangerous.
"Here come the first customers of the day," announces Captain Miles Malone as a herd of livestock accompanied by human figures appears, still several kilometres away on the bronzed desolate moonscape stretching ahead.
The soldiers busy themselves preparing drugs for the arrival of the livestock. Today for the third time in as many months, they are doing something that was, until recently, unheard of in this remote corner of the world – running a veterinary clinic.
Meanwhile, a turbaned, wizened Afghan farmer moves slowly across the sandscape on his motor scooter. Riding pillion are his three young sons, grasping their father’s billowing dish-dash and each other as the vehicle bounces over an uneven dirt track. Another slightly older boy walks alongside, unhurriedly herding a flock of a hundred or so sheep towards the make-shift wire pen of the vet camp clinic.
Miles, dubbed the ’Herriot of Helmand’ by fellow soldiers, is a cheery 28 year old Captain from Sudbury, Suffolk, in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, a member of 102 Theatre Military Working Dogs Support Unit, normally based in Sennelager, Germany. He is currently half way through a seven month deployment to Afghanistan based at the British forces main hub of Camp Bastion.
Miles’ main role here is to provide preventative healthcare and emergency care to the working dogs used to search out IED components and suspicious objects or to guard and provide protection to the many camps where troops are based. But he has also become the dynamic force behind a new project set up to improve the standard of living for local Afghans.
His veterinary clinic, held once a month, invites farmers from the small villages dotted to the northwest of Camp Bastion - away from the Green Zone where the majority of fighting has occurred- to bring their livestock for a free checkup and dose of preventative healthcare.
In this remote corner of Helmand, local, semi-nomadic families eke a living out of the desolate landscape by growing a few crops – usually poppy with its ready made market to the Taleban – and farming livestock. The goats, sheep, cows and donkeys are prized and valuable possessions, so much so that the womenfolk make colourful beaded necklaces to adorn the cattle’s necks.
"Animal livestock forms the lifeblood of these local communities. By improving the health of the herd, we can in turn have a positive impact on the health, wealth and general wellbeing of the population" said Miles.
"If we reduce the disease state of the animals, the knock on effect will be improved meat and milk production. This not only increases the value of the animals at market, but it increases the amount of protein in the locals’ diet. If the meat doesn’t contain worms or diseases which can be transmitted to humans, so the health of the local population also improves.
Giving assistance to the Afghan population also serves a useful purpose for British forces in the area:
"By helping the locals with a project like this, we build up good relations with them and they repay us with information about the surrounding area and local Taliban activity."
Sergeant Major Greg Reeve, 39, from Upavon in Wiltshire explains:
"The economy of Helmand is 70% agricultural, 20% livestock and 10% other. If an Afghan man owns an animal, it will be more prized to him than any other possession, apart from his sons. Everything in Afghanistan has a price, but you cannot compare local values to Western values. Apart from the family compound, animals – cows, sheep, goats – are a farmers most valuable commodity. Female children and wives come low down in the pecking order."
Notwithstanding the cultural differences between Afghan and Western values, in an area where the average daily income is around 1USD per day, a healthy goat costing 70 USD is indisputably a sizeable investment.
Miles explains further:
"A farmer may well be more concerned about an animal dying than he would his child or one of his wives. It sounds harsh, but life is harsh here. If a farmer’s herd is in poor health, his family’s income will be reduced and all the family members will suffer. Once you start to understand the way Afghan society works and the crucial dependence on animals for existence, you can see why a project like this could really benefit the local population."
"The concept of a vet is virtually unknown in Afghanistan, particularly in these rural communities. However, the concept of a doctor is better understood so when it is explained that I am a doctor for animals, the villagers are more accepting. I think there is a certain suspicion of ’white man’s magic’, however an important aspect to the clinic is the education which we simultaneously endeavour to give the locals about animal welfare and husbandry."
Despite the value Afghans place on their livestock, Greg says there is a staggering ignorance amongst the largely illiterate populace about how to care for their beasts:
"Farmers here have absolutely no idea about animal husbandry. There is near total ignorance about causes and spread of disease, breeding cycles and how milk is produced. If a goat stops milking, it is said to be Allah’s will rather than the fact that it has not bred for 18 months and therefore has no anatomical reason to produce milk."
As such, the natural health of herds is poor, with cattle usually underweight and riddled with worms, mites and other parasites. They also frequently carry infectious diseases which can spread to humans with devastating consequences. Brucellosis, a disease now virtually extinct in the UK through vaccination programmes, is commonplace here and causes abortion and premature births in both cattle and humans. The intestinal worms carried by sheep and goats also spread to humans via the foodchain.
Miles says the priority is firstly to de-worm and de-louse. By eradicating parasites, the animals are able to absorb more nutrients, become stronger and more resistant to disease. Once the animals have achieved a baseline of health, he then vaccinates because the vaccinations are less effective on sick animals.
"From a slightly geeky veterinary perspective, these herds are fascinating because the goats and sheep are extremely ancient breeds. They have not been engineered by breeding programmes and are as they would have appeared in biblical times. Because they have not been exposed to drugs and have built up no resistance, they respond extremely well and quickly to the products I give them.’
"Our main effort has to be focused on herd health. De-worming and vaccination programmes which will steadily see an improvement in the overall quality of all the animals will reap long term benefits. Of course if specific animals present with sickness I’ll do my best to treat them too.
This is the third time in three months that Miles has held his Vet Camp. Already he is seeing the same farmers returning with their herds for treatment.
"The improvement in herd health is marked, even in such a short space of time. But it is important that the locals understand they need to continue with treatments. That is where education is so important. It is not a one-stop shop and I aim to provide a continuous service to give preventative healthcare."
To immunise and worm each animal costs around £1.70 in medication, rising to £4 per head if anti-biotics are needed.
Greg says, "This<
