Helping Afghan Women be Healthy

This article describes changes that have taken place in Afganistan with respect to women and health care. According to the article, the country has the highest maternal death rate in the world, with 1,600 women out of every 100,000 dying in childbirth and where an estimated 257 children per 1,000 die before the age of five. In a country where male doctors are not allowed to be present, women giving birth often have no one to care for them because few female doctors are available. According to the article, in many instances women are often not allowed to see a male doctor at all.

The article describes that inspite of three years having past since Taliban rule ended, there are still very few hospitals in the country "and men and boys take precedence in those emergency departments which do exist."

The article describes Hulan Khatibi, Director of the Women's Activities and Social Sciences Association, as working to improve healthcare for women in Afghanistan. During Taliban rule she describes a situation where women weren't allowed to leave the house which made access to health care "very difficult" and during that time female doctors weren't allowed to practice. As she says, "that is why the maternal mortality rate has been so high."

Khatibi describes her organisation as offering teams that visit villages to educate women about care and nutrition for themselves during pregnancy as well as for their newborn babies. They further provide information on how to bathe hygienically and what to eat during breastfeeding. The group also trains midwives so that they can train other women and reach out to men "to widen their understanding of what women need..."

As Khatibi describes, there have been improvements... "You cannot expect massive change. That is going to take some time."