The specific health topic I want to talk about in Afghanistan is infant and child mortality. In many world reports, Afghanistan is often said to be one of the worst places to live as a woman, but surprisingly this is only recently. These reports looked into education,justice, health care, economics and politics. They made up 50% of government workers, 70% of teachers and 40% of doctors in Afghanistan ( Ray of Hope). Afghanistan has faced many difficulties in the past few decades. Until the 1900’s Afghanistan was peaceful, safe and citizens were allowed to do what they wanted. Specifically, women were allowed to work, get educated and the constitution of Afghanistan gave women equal rights and universal suffrage, but this all changed drastically in a few short years. After the Taliban took over in the 1990’s, women now were denied an education and were forced to stay at home. While many aspects of women’s life were significantly affected, the effect on maternal and infant mortality was affected the worst. Today, Afghanistan has one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world. The maternal mortality rate is around 396 deaths per 1000 live births. The infant mortality rate is about 165 deaths per 1,000 live births (Williams). There are several factors which can explain these extremely high rates of infant and maternal death. Some factors include severe poverty, malnutrition, dangerous living conditions, domestic violence, child marriage, lack of education and most importantly a severe shortages of medical professionals. Currently around 54.4% of Afghanistan’s population live below the poverty rate. They have limited access to clean drinking water, lack of proper food and lack of basic sanitation. These conditions are perfect for the growth of different bacteria and virus which can cause significant problems for both the mother and her infant contributing to the extremely high mortality rates. Additionally, as mentioned before, one of the biggest problems that women and in general people in Afghanistan face is the shortage of doctors. 60% of Afghans don’t have access to basic health services and only 10% of hospitals are able to handle caesarean deliveries (Bartlett). Less that 1% of people in the study reported having a trained health professional help them during childbirth (Amowitz). This means that almost more than 95% of the population had untrained non professional help during childbirth.
Infant and maternal mortality is an extremely important health issue to address from both a cultural and public health standpoint. Cultural practices and traditions greatly affect the rate of infant and maternal mortality, so it’s important to understand how certain practices effect the health of both the infant and mother. In general infant mortality rates are used as a measure of health in the society and it is also used as an overall marker of the health of a society. The rate of infant mortality is used as an indicator of the “wellness of a society” and reflects the type of care, education, and importance society places on the health of both women and children (Allotey, 2003). These rates can tell us about health needs in different areas like sanitation, nutrition, medical care and education (Britannica). Learning about infant mortality is extremely important because these numbers are indicative of women’s disparities and women’s health.
“Women and Girls in Afghanistan.” Razia’s Ray of Hope, raziasrayofhope.org/women-and-girls-in-afghanistan.html.
Bartlett, Linda. Where Giving Birth Is a Forecast of Death: Maternal …www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)71044-8/fulltext.
Williams, Jennifer. “Observations From a Maternal and Infant Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan-2003.” Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, No Longer Published by Elsevier, 22 June 2005, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1526952305000516.
Amowitz LL, Reis C, Iacopino V. Maternal Mortality in Herat Province, Afghanistan, in 2002: An Indicator of Women’s Human Rights. JAMA. 2002;288(10):1284–1291. doi:10.1001/jama.288.10.1284
Allotey. (2003, May 01). Infant mortality rate as an indicator of population health. Retrieved from https://jech.bmj.com/content/57/5/344