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KABUL : Afghanistan has seen a decline in maternal and child mortality rates over the last eight years, a senior health official said on Sunday.
Maternal mortality rates per 100,000 live births had decreased to 1,400 in 2010 against 1,600 in 2002, Acting Public Health Minister Dr Suraya Dalil told journalists in Kabul.
Even with the existing figures, Afghanistan is only behind Sierra Leone in terms of maternal mortality rate.
She said the mortality rate for newborns had dropped from 165 per 1,000 newborns in 2002 to 111 in 2008. Similarly, the under-five mortality rate was 257 in 2002; it fell to 161 in 2008.
She thanked the World Health Organisation (WHO) for conducting the research and providing data from clinics and hospitals across the war-devastated country.
Vaccination and expansion of health facilities were the factors behind the decrease, Dalil said, acknowledging much more was needed to be done to overcome health challenges in Afghanistan.
Also present at the news conference were Peter Graff, WHO director for Afghanistan, who promised his organisation would continue assisting the Public Health Ministry in controlling maternal and child mortality rates.
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Director Peter Crowley said the agency would enhance assistance for health services in the country. Together with the Ministry of Public Health, they would expand health services to more areas, he pledged.
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Maternal mortality rates per 100,000 live births had decreased to 1,400 in 2010 against 1,600 in 2002, Acting Public Health Minister Dr Suraya Dalil told journalists in Kabul.
Even with the existing figures, Afghanistan is only behind Sierra Leone in terms of maternal mortality rate.
She said the mortality rate for newborns had dropped from 165 per 1,000 newborns in 2002 to 111 in 2008. Similarly, the under-five mortality rate was 257 in 2002; it fell to 161 in 2008.
She thanked the World Health Organisation (WHO) for conducting the research and providing data from clinics and hospitals across the war-devastated country.
Vaccination and expansion of health facilities were the factors behind the decrease, Dalil said, acknowledging much more was needed to be done to overcome health challenges in Afghanistan.
Also present at the news conference were Peter Graff, WHO director for Afghanistan, who promised his organisation would continue assisting the Public Health Ministry in controlling maternal and child mortality rates.
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Director Peter Crowley said the agency would enhance assistance for health services in the country. Together with the Ministry of Public Health, they would expand health services to more areas, he pledged.
Source.
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