BySCEME
Afghan women need a better access to health care
Two of the eight Millennium Development Goals, adopted by the international community in 2000, set targets for 2015 on improving maternal health and reducing child mortality. A lot still remains to be done in those issues, especially in Afghanistan.
A survey, carried out by the Afghan Health Ministry in 2010, shows that the country has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world with 77 deaths per 1,000 live births. It also says than one Afghan woman dies every two hours from pregnancy-related causes.
In fact, decades of conflict in Afghanistan have severely damaged the public health infrastructure and consequently affected the ability for women to access adequate maternal health care. Moreover the country faces a critical dearth of skilled female health providers. In rural areas, most women have no choice but giving birth without any skilled assistance and in unhealthy conditions, which puts their own lives and those of their children at significant risk.
Fortunately, international NGO such as Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are present in the area to strengthen the quality of health. DWB has recently opened a new maternity hospital in eastern Khost Province in Afghanistan. “The new hospital will be able to help hundreds of women every month have safe deliveries and care for their newborn children by offering specialized care,” said Hilde Cortier, medical director of the new MSF facility.
The right of access to appropriate healthcare services is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the only way to enable women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth is to respect this right.
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