Afghanistan is one of the countries in the world where it is riskiest to give birth. The maternal mortality rate in the country is 638 deaths per 100,000 births, a very high figure – which is only close to those of Yemen and Nigeria – and which could rise to 963 deaths per 100,000 births by 2025. The high mortality rate of childbirth and infants is one of the dramatic and worrying aspects of the unprecedented humanitarian crisis affecting the country, whose health system is on the verge of collapse.
It is difficult if not almost impossible for the Afghan population to rely on a now ineffective health system, and more fragile since the international community’s funding was cut following the Taliban takeover. In fact, many clinics and district hospitals are no longer fully functional or adequately equipped. In addition, the restrictions on the possibility of moving and the lack of economic resources increases the isolation of pregnant women, deprived of periodic visits and forced to give birth at home, as occurs regularly in rural areas. Around 24,000 women give birth every month in hard-to-reach areas.
The situation in Afghanistan is getting worse every day and risks turning into a real humanitarian catastrophe: in the country, it is estimated that 28.4 million people will need humanitarian assistance in 2023, a number growing by more than 15 percent compared to 2022.
To launch the appeal not to abandon the Afghan population is INTERSOS the humanitarian organization which has been operating in the country for more than twenty years and which currently supplies medicines and medical supplies in the provinces of Kandahar, Kabul and Zabul in order to reduce mortality during childbirth and be able to intervene with life-saving medicines in cases of complications and acute malnutrition of mothers and newborns.
“The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has never been worse, with millions of people in urgent need of humanitarian aid, including millions of women and girls who depend almost exclusively on aid provided by NGOs, especially in rural areas”, said the director general of INTERSOS Konstantinos Moschochoritis, who underlined the essential contribution of Afghan women to ensure access to humanitarian assistance services for millions of women and girls who would otherwise be excluded.
After a momentary halt – following the announcement by the Taliban authorities to ban women from working in NGOs – the role of women in humanitarian action has in fact resumed. In a country that is experiencing a “chronic” crisis from a health point of view – since there is a lack of health care structures and personnel – to seek “pragmatic solutions and hold talks both centrally and locally to try to obtain permission to include women in all our activities, in line with humanitarian principles” is fundamental – continues Moschochoritis
There are 340 Afghan women who work for INTERSOS, to whom, Moschochoritis assures, “the organization guarantees full support”.
Intersos has launched the campaign “A safe birth” to decrease high childbirth and infant mortality in conflict areas.
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