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Increasing access of women and children to quality basic health services
In order to create conditions for stability in Afghanistan, USAID health projects are designed to improve the health status of the general population. The projects aim to train essential health care professionals, educate Afghans about better health habits, enhance provider performance, and develop and implement quality assurance systems. Basic health care for rural communities is a priority for USAID/Afghanistan, with a primary focus on women and children’s health.
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Success Stories
10 July 2012 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID ‘When I had my first child, there were no clinics, no doctors, no nurses. The Charbagh clinic where I had my last baby,...
19 April 2012 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID/SPS AFTER With USAID support, the Central Medical Stores was refurbished. The renovated, well-lit warehouse is now air-conditioned to maintain the proper temperature range...
15 April 2012 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID/HCI “Suddenly, when I heard my baby’s cry, I was so happy and thankful for the doctor who saved my child’s life. ...
1 March 2012
USAID/HSSP Sadeqa Khavari, a 28-year old single mother and a midwife Sadeqa Khavari’s older sister died while giving birth and now she...
7 March 2012 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID promotes quality health products while helping to decrease poverty through job opportunities for women in Afghanistan.
3 December 2011 | Kabul, Afghanistan
While HIV prevalence in Afghanistan is currently low with 1,250 reported cases to date, the country is at high USAID/COMPRI-A Religious...
2 April 2011 | Baghlan Province, Afghanistan
USAID/Afghanistan Rahima Zarifi, director of Woman's Affairs helps cut the ribbon at the opening of the Baghlan Provincial Hospital refurbished blood bank. On...
1 November 2010 | Kabul, Afghanistan
Prioritizing the very sick is imperative given the long queues of patients waiting to receive medical attention in hospitals around Afghanistan. Emergency triage assessment and...
31 October 2010 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID’s Afghan Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation (SWSS) Project and Afghanistan’s Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) are taking steps to improve project coordination...
On October 17, U.S. and Afghan government representatives and members of the international community gathered in Kabul for the official launch of the Afghan Social...
15 October 2010 | Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan
Many common illnesses can be prevented by increasing the practice of hand washing. To promote better health and hygiene, the Afghan Ministry of Public Health...
15 October 2010 | Kabul, Afghanistan
New cases of polio have fallen by 99 percent globally in the past two decades, but Afghanistan remains one of the world’s four polio-endemic countries. ...
In The News
16 January 2013 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID Twenty-six new midwives graduated from the Community Midwifery Education program in Sheberghan City, Jawzjan, on January 16. Twenty-six new midwives graduated from...
17 July 2012 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID USAID works on reducing maternal adn newborn mortality in Afghanistan by increasing the number of trained midwives The Afghan Ministry of...
28 June 2012 | Herat, Afghanistan
USAID/Afghanistan A new generation of midwives in Herat Twenty-eight midwives received certificates at today’s graduation ceremony in Herat. Herat’s Deputy Governor Alhaj...
30 April 2012 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID/HSSP Afghan Minister of Public Health, Suraya Dalil addresses midwives at the event celebrating the International Day of the Midwife in Kabul ...
26 March 2012
Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal, infant and child mortality rates in the world. To assess objectively the progress made in the health sector...
18 December 2011 | Kabul, Afghanistan
In support of United Nations International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development, USAID/Adisa Busuladzic Acting Minister of Public Health Dr....
8 August 2011 | Kabul, Afghanistan
USAID/HCI Caption: (from the left) Director of Health Department of Ministry of Defense General Abdul Qayum Totakhil, Chief of Party for USAID/HCI Dr. Mirwais...
11 July 2011 | KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) joins the global community in observing the 22nd World Population Day today in a special year...
3 May 2011 | Kabul, Afghanistan
به تاریخ 3 ماه می، وزارت صحت عامه در کابل محفل روز بین المللی قابله ها را برگذار نمود. این محفل در ارتباط با هفتمین...
Bronwyn Jones/USAID Ms. Brooke Isham, USAID deputy mission director speaks at the international day of the midwife celebration in Kabul. On May...
BACKGROUND
Afghanistan has one of the highest mother and child mortality rates in the world. Every year, one in ten children dies before the age of five. Every two hours, one Afghan woman dies from pregnancy-related causes. These statistics, from the 2010 Afghan Mortality Survey, are tragic but they do not tell the complete story of healthcare in Afghanistan. There has been significant progress in the sector. More than 60 percent of the population now lives within a one-hour walking distance to the nearest health facility, an increase from nine percent in 2002. Infant mortality has decreased by 57 percent and child mortality by 62 percent. Attendance at birth by a trained provider has more than doubled, leading to substantially lower maternal mortality ratios than previously reported. USAID works on health-related development projects alongside local partners and emphasizes the leadership and management role of Afghan officials.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
USAID has adopted a four-pronged approach to improving the health of the Afghan people, especially women and children:
MEETING IMMEDIATE HEALTHCARE NEEDS
In partnership with the MoPH, as well as international and Afghan non-governmental organizations (NGOs), USAID supports the delivery of essential health services and pharmaceuticals through 540 health facilities in 13 of the country’s 34 provinces. Services are provided through the Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) and the Essential Package of Hospital Services (EPHS). On average, nearly one million people per month are treated at USAID-supported health facilities. Of these, 76 percent are women and children younger than five.
USAID supports regular in-service training programs for physicians, nurses, and midwives to ensure quality care. USAID also trains community health workers in order to take healthcare to communities. U.S. government programs have trained nearly half of all volunteer community health workers in Afghanistan.
Increased access to skilled birth attendants is essential to improving maternal and child health. To date, more than 1,800 midwives have graduated from USAID-supported programs, bringing their numbers up to roughly 3,300 trained midwives in Afghanistan, from just 467 during Taliban rule. The welcome result is the increasing use of prenatal care in rural Afghanistan. In 2003, it was an estimated 16 percent; in 2010 it had risen to 60 percent.
BUILDING CAPACITY IN THE HEALTH SYSTEM
USAID provided technical assistance to MoPH to build its financial, procurement and management systems, thereby enabling it to receive direct funding from the U.S. Government. USAID continues to provide technical support to the MoPH to improve its capacity to plan and manage activities, allocate resources, increase human resource capacity, strengthen health information and logistics systems, and monitor and evaluate the BPHS and EPHS programs.
INCREASING ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE THROUGH THE PRIVATE SECTOR
USAID has helped make affordable health products more widely available to the rural, low-income population by expanding private sector distribution of selected socially marketed high-quality contraceptives, oral rehydration salts, and safe water solutions. To disseminate public health messages and educate communities on issues such as the importance of birth spacing and diarrhea prevention and treatment, USAID programs support radio and TV spots, billboards, community health meetings, and mobile cinema. USAID also supports the MoPH in developing effective partnerships with the private sector to facilitate the delivery of quality and financially sustainable health services, particularly in hospitals.
Fact Sheet Health Sector - Feb 2013
Basic Support for Institutionalizing Child Survival-III (BASICS-III)
Better Health for Afghan Mothers and Children Project
Central Contraceptive Procurement (CCP)
Child Protection and Psychological Support for Afghan Children and Youth Program/Assistance for Afghanistan’s Most Vulnerable Children
Child Survival Support Grant: Better Health for Afghan Mothers and Children Project
Communication for Behavior Change: Expanding Access to Private Sector Health Products and Services in Afghanistan (COMPRI-A)
Comprehensive Disabled Afghans Program/National Program of Action on Disability
Disease Early Warning System (DEWS)
Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP)
Health Care Improvement (HCI) Project
Health Policy Project (HPP)
Health Research Challenge for Impact: Reproductive Age Mortality Survey (RAMOS) II
Health Service Support Project (HSSP)
Health Services Delivery Grant - Partnership Contracts for Health (PCH)
Health Services Delivery Grant - Performance-based Partnership Grants (PPG)
Health Systems 20/20
Higher Education Project: Kabul Medical University
Leadership, Management, Governance (LMG)
Measure DHS: Afghanistan Mortality Study
Routine Immunization in Afghanistan
Rural Expansion of Afghanistan's Community-based Healthcare (REACH)
Strengthening Pharmaceutical Systems (SPS)
TB CARE 1
Technical Support to the Central and Provincial Ministry of Public Health (Tech-Serve)
Tuberculosis Control Assistance Program (TB CAP)
UNICEF Health and Immunization Response Support
UNICEF Nutrition Program in Afghanistan
UNICEF Salt Iodization in Afghanistan
USAID|DELIVER Project
WHO Cross Border Malaria Program
WHO Health and Emergency Response Support Grant: Polio Eradication Activities
WHO TB
USAID
USAID Senior Deputy Mission Director Robert Hellyer hands the graduation certificate to a new mid-wife.
Sheila Vemmer/U.S. Embassy, Kabul
U.S. Ambassador Eikenberry, Mrs. Eikenberry, Acting Minister of Public Health Dr. Dalil, Acting Minister of Women’s Affairs Dr. Ghazanfar watch the photos of the U.S.-funded Midwifery Training Program in Afghanistan.
USAID/Tech-Serve
With assistance from USAID, 14 representatives traveled to Malawi to observe and study emergency pediatric care where ETAT is further advanced.
USAID/HSSP
A community health worker
USAID/Robert Sauers
Acting Minister of Public Health Dr. Suraya Dalil commends the community health workers gathered in the annual celebration of Community Health Worker day.
Debra Boyce
On November 15, 2009, (right to left) U.S. Deputy Ambassador Francis J. Ricciardone, President Hamid Karzai, and Minister of Public Health Dr. Amin Fatimie supported Polio Eradication National Immunization Day by administering polio vaccination drops to an Afghan child.
Afghan Ministry of Public Health
A 12-year-old boy, crippled by polio five years ago, helps to vaccinate a young child against the disease.
USAID/LGCD
Community health workers receive training in rural Nuristan province.
USAID/SWSS
Al-Temor community members collect clean drinking water from a well recently constructed by USAID.
USAID/HEP
This USAID-supported task force is designing a Master’s in Public Health program at Kabul Medical University.
E-learning module for midwives.
USAID/DEWS
Afghan public health professionals learn to use new tools, such as GIS, to improve disease surveillance.
Schoolgirls show their hands after washing them with soap and water as part of a Global Handwashing Day celebration.
A presenter answers questions during one of the Grand Rounds discussions in Kabul.
Dr. Zarbadshah Jabarkhail
A community health worker checks a child’s weight gain during a growth monitoring session in Jawzjan Province.
Health and Hygiene Training Closing Ceremony, Parwan Province.
David Foster
Participants discuss community health promotion public policy.
USAID/Afghanistan
A booth at the USAID/Afghanistan Implementing Partners’ Fair displays health products, such as oral rehydration salts, promoted by USAID.
USAID/Uruj Perwaiz
These graduating midwives will reach 345,000 mothers and children throughout Jawzjan.
USAID/AIRP
A dentist at Kabul Medical University’s Dentistry Teaching Clinic treats a young patient in the pediatrics department.
USAID/COMPRI-A
Khalid Irshad Pharmaceutical personnel producing Shefa oral rehydration salts.
Marzila Mashal
Madina is a community health worker in the village of Istalef. She travels from house to house three days a week to provide prenatal care and family planning advice to women.
Unclean water causes many health problems in Afghanistan, especially in children under five. About a tablespoon of this clorin solution will kill all bacteria and parasites in four gallons of water, improving health and saving lives.
Men discuss birth spacing products and other health products at a JSJ men’s meeting in Daman District, Kandahar.
USAID/ADP-E
Shah Bibi is one of 18 women selected by their home communities to take part in an 18-month course offered by the Ghanikhail Midwifery Training Center.
Mehrunnesa is an example of the positive impact a skilled birth attendant can have on a community.
Midwives graduate in Hirat.
(Left to right) Egyptian Ambassador Karim Sharaf, Acting Minister of Public Health Dr. Suraya Dalil, and Ambassador Melanne Verveer, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues announced the advanced training for midwives at the Ministry of Public Health.
Mullahs learned how to improve family health in accordance with the Holy Koran.
USAID/BASICS
Acting Minister of Public Health Dr. Suraya Dalil gives opening remarks at the inaugural meeting of the National Maternal and Child Survival Committee.
A community health worker provides basic information on newborn care to Miriam from Bamyan Province.
Newly graduated midwives in Badakshan Province take the Midwives Pledge.
Kabul Medical University Chancellor Obaidullah Obaid with KMU lecturers and Aga Khan University experts at the opening ceremonies.
USAID/AeQA
Conference participants tour the Nursing Skills Lab at Kabul Medical University.
USAID/CHEF
A model of the 100-bed regional hospital under construction in Paktya Province.
Minister of Public Health Dr. Fatimie and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry shake hands at the launch of the Partnership Contracts for Health Service program.
Lutfullah Ehsaas
Pharmacist Zakhi Ahmad Qiami records medicines on a stock card in the pharmacy at the Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital in Kabul.
USAID/Jennifer Lindsey
"We like the road because now it's easy for cars… and easy for us to get to school. Not only my parents but all the villagers are very happy with the new road because we can get sick people to the clinic faster. And now, because the road is paved, there is no longer so much dust“ -Asif Haseebkhan, 10 years old, Durani Village
Matt Herrick
A child approaches one of forty new community wells in Kulanghar, Logar for a drink.
The clinic was in a very poor condition. Although structurally sound, portions of the exterior and interior were crumbling. The condition of the building hindered the ability of the clinic to provide its full services.
REACH
A young woman receives treatment at a USAID-funded Basic Health Center in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan.
Dr. Faizullah Kakar speaks at a technical health discussion hosted by USAID and the Embassy of Afghanistan on July 18, 2007.
Sayed Nazir (right) advises the benefit of oral rehydration solutions for the treatment of diarrhea and dehydration to the father of a child with diarrhea.
IOM Gardez
Chamkani Hospital, the second largest healthcare facility in Paktia Province, is now operational
Photo: REACH
Wasil, a 17-year-old diagnosed with tuberculosis, takes his medication at a USAID-assisted health clinic.
Photo: Judith Schiffbauer, REACH
The newly formed Afghan Midwives Association meets at Kabul's Rabia Balkhi Hospital.
Through USAID, the clinic received a major refurbishment and a newly constructed wing. The roof, building exterior, interior, and bathroom facilities were completely gutted and renovated. The clinic also received a new generator and water tank.
Photo: REACH/ M. Kabir
Budding playwrights review their scripts at the USAID Writing for Radio Workshop in Kabul.
National Immunization Days vaccinators protect young children against polio.
Promoting safe water in Afghanistan.
An ASMO staff member demonstrates how to mix oral rehydration salts with water to hydrate a sick child.
USAID/SPS
An STG Writers’ Orientation Workshop participant presents her ideas to the group.
USAID/TB CAP
Students in Jawzjan Province hold signs that read "I am stopping TB" on World TB Day 2009. Tuberculosis is a major health threat in Afghanistan, and events like World TB Day help to raise awareness about TB prevention and treatment.
A billboard in Bamyan advises TB prevention methods.
USAID/TB DOTS
Ministry of Public Health and private hospital representatives sign a memorandum of understanding to join efforts to fight TB.
IRD/SPR-SEA
The National De-worming Campaign in Schools was launched on October 20, 2010 at Aisha Durani High School in Kabul.
USAID promotes the use of these high-quality health products, including oral rehydration salts to help children recover from diarrhea.
A trained doctor vaccinates an Afghan woman. More than 750,000 patients receive services monthly from USAID-funded health facilities or USAID-trained healthcare providers.
A facilitator leads a community-based JSJ women’s health meeting.
Bob Rice, USAID/Higher Education Project
Women and children wait for primary healthcare services at a health sub-center, the most basic of Afghanistan’s health service delivery sites. This sub-center in Balkh Province is staffed by one physician and one midwife; two female volunteers liaise between the sub-center and local residents. A sub-center provides community outreach, vaccinations, consultations, and referrals to the provincial hospital for specialized care.
On World TB Day 2009, residents of Bamyan learned about ways to prevent and treat tuberculosis, a major public health threat in Afghanistan.
(Data as of February 2013)
Afghanistan Mortality Survey (AMS-2010-Released on Nov 2011)
Afghanistan Mortality Survey Key Findings (AMS-2010-Released on Nov 2011)
Last updated 23 May 2013
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