KABUL (SW) – Maternal mortality rates have risen significantly across the country, said officials at the Afghanistan Obstetricians and Gynecologists Association.
They dubbed the increase in maternal mortality as shocking and said that the main reasons for the increase are poverty, lack of access to health services and lack of health personnel.
Najm al-Sama Shafaju, president of the AOGA, said today at a two-day symposium that although they do not have the exact number of maternal deaths, but the rate has reached its highest level.
“The maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan, which according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Public Health’s Reproductive Health Department, has risen from 661 deaths per 100,000 live births to 638 deaths per 100,000 live births,” she said. “This is a statistic that has shaken UNICEF, Asia and the world.”
We wanted to have the view of the Ministry of Public Health on the ministry’s efforts to reduce maternal mortality; But the officials of this ministry did not answer our calls.
A conference to mark the International Day of the Midwife was informed earlier this month that thousands of midwives are jobless in the country. Officials at the Ministry of Public Health said on the occasion that according to the latest figures, there are 34,825 registered midwives in the ministry, of whom only 6,033 are employed.
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