Public Health

Afghanistan's health system has been regularly progressing over the last 20 years, with increasing coverage of health services throughout the country. In the past 5 years, around three thousand health facilities were functional, which ensured access to almost 90% of the population within two hours of distance. 

The child died, the rate is individually high in Afghanistan and, according to international records, life expectancy at birth is estimated to be the lowest.

Statistics show that more than a third of newborns are underweight. Even these days, around 90% of deliveries take place in the pregnant mother’s home and usually with no proper medical assistance. This is because in the highly patriarchial Afghan society women do not often get permission to leave their home, even to go to the hospital! A very limited number of hospitals exist in the Afghanistan countryside. Sometimes, one would have to travel across hundreds of kilometers to reach one of these hospitals. 

In addition, approximately more than half of the population does not have access to drinking water, which in turn results in a lot of health problems, especially among the younger kids.

photo by: Ivan Lo