KABUL (SW) – Health ministry officials said on Tuesday at least 28,000 midwives remain jobless in Afghanistan.
This was said in connection with the International Midwifery Day here with the slogan “Follow The Date: Invest In Midwives”.
Zahra Mirzaei, president of the Afghan Midwives Association, said at this occasion that out of an estimated 34,000 midwives in the country, more than 28,000 of them are unemployed or working in other sectors.
A number of midwives expressed concerns over the lack of adequate facilities, especially in the provinces and remote areas of the country, and said that no significant work has been done to improve the situation.
Rababa Amiri, one of the midwives in Daikundi province said they do not have enough salaries, security, welfare programs or teaching facilities. “Unfortunately, the health system has changed recently. Very less work has being done on the quality of work, the provision of services, the orientation of midwives and their education”, she said.
Meanwhile, the head of the Ministry of Health, Waheed Majrooh, acknowledged the problems of midwives and said the government remained committed to improving their capacity. He named the 50-bed hospital in Dasht-e Barchi after the slain midwife Maryam who died in a bloody attack last year.
Maryam Nourzad and 23 others, including mothers and infants, lost their lives in an attack by armed assailants on the hospital on May 12 last year.
ENDS
