The World Factbook. Improving the health of women and children in Afghanistan. The health system in Afghanistan continues to face many challenges. However, growing numbers of trained health-care workers are gradually helping to deliver improved health care to more and more people. More specifically greater numbers of skilled female health-care workers are still needed to meet the health-care needs of women and children in the country. In recent years, WHO has contributed to the establishment of training courses for midwives in Afghanistan. As a result, since 2003, more than 2 700 midwives have been trained.
WHO is also working to improve the country's family planning services and strengthen the capacity of health personnel to conduct reproductive health research. These initiatives have improved birth conditions and antenatal care. This photo gallery shows various aspects of midwifery and training initiatives that are helping to improve health care for women and children in Afghanistan. WHO/Christopher Black Download high-resolution imagejpg, 1.65Mb WHO/Nathalie Kapp. Afghanistan. Remote remedies: healthcare in Badakshan Afghanistan. Afghanistan. Spotlights: Rebuilding Afghanistan's Health System. Rebuilding Afghanistan's Health System View all spotlights A Community Midwifery Education (CME) course in Faizabad, Badakhshan. In Afghanistan, AKF supports CME programmes in Bamyan, Faizabad and Kabul.Photo: AKDN / Sandra CalligaroAmong Afghan women of childbearing age who die each year, almost half die from complications during pregnancy and childbirth.
Nearly 90 percent of these deaths are preventable. For the past five years, AKDN has been addressing this situation by training community midwives to work in the remote rural areas where maternal and child health care provision is most needed. “I am increasingly inclined to define poverty not only as a matter of income, but rather as a state of marginalisation in all of those conditions which contribute to the quality of human life. The midwife course is part of AKDN’s broad effort to assist in the reconstruction of the health infrastructure. ALSO SEE:Aga Khan Health ServicesAfghanistan AKDN brochure (2008)Language: EnglishSize: 3.67 MB.