Maternal and Child Health Care
Further information: Afghanistan Midwifery ProjectAn improvement in child health services in 500 - 600 health facilities was noted in 2006; the improvement correlates with the presence of clinical guidelines and the frequency of supervision of health care providers. 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. By 2010, the 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.
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 to 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."
According to a 2012 report by Save the Children, improved healthcare and the rise of females attending school have made Afghanistan climb up from its position as the worst place on earth to be a mother."More mothers are surviving and fewer children are dying and this is something we need to be celebrating," said Rachel Maranto, Advocacy and Mobilisation senior Manager at Save the Children in Kabul. Despite the better healthcare, about 275 children die every day in the country of 30 million.
Read more about this topic: Health In Afghanistan
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