health

Health in Afghanistan is in need of improvement due to the country being in a state of civil war for the last three decades. According to the Human Development Index, Afghanistan is the 15th least developed country in the world. The Ministry of Public Health deals with matters concerning the health of Afghanistan's population.After Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001, when the United Nations began focusing on the situation in Afghanistan, improvement slowly began in the health care system of the country.According to USAID, infant mortality rate has decreased by 22% and child mortality has dropped by 26% since 2003. It was reported in 2006 that nearly 60% of the population lives within two hours walking distance of the nearest health facility, up from nine percent in 2002. The average life expectancy at birth was reported in the past at about 47 years but has risen to as high as 64 for both sexes.


・Maternal and Child Health Care

In June 2011, the United Nations Population Fund released a report, which contained new data on the midwifery workforce and policies relating to newborn and maternal mortality for 58 countries.Afghanistan has more than 3,000 midwives with an additional 300 to 400 being trained each year. According to Afghanistan's Ministry of Health about 1 in 50 women die while giving birth and the number of children who died before the age of 5 is about 1 in 10. According Sima Ayubi, a maternity doctor in Kabul who advocates hospital births, explains: "Now pregnant women have more information about health. This mortality rate is still a problem. There's just a decrease. The problem is not completely eliminated or under control."
A 2008 study by Future Health Systems and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health indicated that only 13% of respondents had used skilled birth attendants, well below the average of other countries.
The 2010 maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births for Afghanistan was 1,400. The under 5 mortality rate, per 1,000 births was 201 and the neonatal mortality as a percentage of under 5's mortality was 27. The aim of this report was to highlight ways in which the Millennium Development Goals can be achieved, particularly Goal 4 – Reduce child mortality and Goal 5 – improve maternal death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_in_Afghanistan