Announcement

Religious Leaders Teach Reproductive Health

Mullahs and Imams educate the public on child and maternal health.

Kabul, Afghanistan  | Monday, December 15, 2008

Photo: USAID/COMPRI-A

Mullahs learned how to improve family health in accordance with the Holy Koran.

Afghanistan has one of the world’s highest rates of infant and maternal mortality.  Despite cultural taboos surrounding family planning, USAID helped boost awareness this year by training 288 religious leaders in ten of Afghanistan’s most popular mosques. The influential leaders learned to provide accurate information about maternal and child health and the products which could save their lives.

After their training, religious leaders communicated these vital health messages in the country’s mosques, taking great care to teach about child and maternal health in accordance with the Holy Koran. Their lessons were supported with the distribution of over 200,000 products and health literature at the mosques.

Follow-up surveys show that the teachings of the Mullahs and Imams, heard by an estimated 8.1 million people, resulted in substantially better sales of reproductive health products at local pharmacies and groceries.  Efforts like these lead to stronger, healthier families and help prevent the tragic loss of life in Afghanistan.