Kabul, July 14 (IANS): The European Union (EU) on Tuesday announced a new aid package worth 41 million euros (about $45 million) to help Afghans improve their basic health services, a media report said.

"The EU has made available 41 million euros to support basic health and nutrition services for the Afghan population through the health programme managed by the ministry of public health (MoPH) known as SEHAT (System Enhancement for Health Action in Transition)," the office of the EU delegation to Afghanistan said in a statement here.

The statement said "the objective of SEHAT programme was to strengthen the overall capacity of the MoPH to deliver a comprehensive package of health services to the Afghan population", Xinhua news agency reported.

The programme will focus on increasing the access of mothers and children to reproductive, maternal and child health services.

The statement added that improving operations, construction, renovation and maintenance of health facilities and equipment, upgrading quality control laboratories and strengthening MoPH human resources, will also be a focus of the programme.