The first generation of professional midwives to undergo full training has graduated in Afghanistan, where maternal and child mortality are the worst in the world, officials said.
In all, 138 female trainees from more than 20 provinces completed a two-year course at the Afghan institute of health science, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Aga Khan Development Network.
– Fifty to 70 mothers die every day from birth complications, which is a silent tsunami for Afghanistan, public health minister Mohammed Amin Fatimi told the graduation ceremony Wednesdsay.
According to a UN report, a mother dies from birth complications every 30 minutes in Afghanistan and maternal mortality rates are 60 times higher than in developed countries.
Almost all Afghan women give birth at home, but only eight percent get help from a trained birth attendant. Due to traditional and cultural restrictions male doctors or health attendants cannot help women give birth.
More than 250 out of 1.000 children die before the age of five in Afghanistan, while in France it is five out of 1.000, according to the World Health Organisation.
– Afghanistan has the worlds highest maternal and child mortality rates, Edward Carwardine, the UN Childrens Fund spokesman in Afghanistan, said.
Afghanistan would eventually need 8.000 to 10.000 midwives, Fatimi said.
By the end of April another 90 midwives will graduate from similar courses in northern Balkh and western Herat provinces, which will take the number of new trainees to 228, according to a USAID statement.
Some 830 new midwives are expected to be trained by the year 2006 under a USAID grant of 6,7 million dollars and additional funds from the Aga Khan’s organisation.
Graduate Shakeela Abdali said: – It is our day today and we are glad that here with us comes another batch of health messengers, for whom thousands of mothers have waited so long.
Two and a half decades of war has left Afghanistan suffering in all walks of life, especially in security, economy and health.
Kilde: The Push Journal
