Afghanistan's Health Care Advances As The Under-5 Child Mortality Rate Drops

Kabul, Afghanistan (AHN) - Afghanistan is being credited for providing better and advanced health services as the under-5 child mortality rate in the nation has declined years after Taliban rule ended.

The reports said that the health ministry of Afghanistan claims that it has successfully saved thousands of children below 5-years-old who would have died without proper medical care during the authoritarian rule.

Besides, the health ministry has consistently been under pressure from the UNICEF and other aid agencies for not supplying adequate medical supplies to the local doctors.

At a function on Sunday, according to local reports, Afghanistan's Minister for Public Health Syed Mohammad Amin Fatimi said, "Thank God that today 85 percent of the people of our country have access to health services while during Taliban regime it was unbelievable."

According to a new study conducted by Johns Hopkins University, the mortality rate of children under the age of 5 has dropped to 191 deaths per 1000 live births last year from 257 per 1000 in 2001.

"It is a long way to go to provide access to basic health services for Afghans in remote areas. Continuing progress will be difficult without a firm commitment by the international community to increase and secure financing for the sector," the health minister added.

The country, according to AP, still cannot save 250,000 newborn children who die every year mainly due to waterborne diseases like malaria, diarrhea and others like malnutrition, tuberculosis and pneumonia

Tariq Ihsan, a deputy director with Save the Children, explained in an interview, "My feeling is that we really need to look at this very carefully, because the children who are dying now could be the newborns."

"Many newborns are dying because they don't have access to immediate health care. I think that's a real challenge for Afghanistan. They need to ask, 'Are we saving enough newborns?" Ihsan added.

The health ministry has claimed its success on the rising number of child immunization along with a trained health staff.

However, the UNICEF has noted in the past that Afghanistan has to do a lot more than just increasing immunization amongst the children. A total health care program is necessary for every newborn child.