KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), led by the King of Saudi Arabia, has pledged a $1.1 million donation to enhance the quality of maternal and child health services in the central Bamyan province of Afghanistan.
In a statement, the World Health Organization (WHO), announced the contribution, saying that the funding will support the organization’s efforts to end preventable deaths among pregnant women, children, and adolescents in Afghanistan.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the funding was facilitated by the Islamic Development Bank and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, serving as the trustee of the Afghanistan Humanitarian Trust Fund (AHTF).
Afghanistan’s long-standing health crisis is deepening amid a humanitarian and governance crisis that has brought funding shortfalls and lack of professional health workers.
According to a UN report, the country has the highest maternal mortality ratios in the organization’s Eastern Mediterranean Region, with 638 deaths per 100,000 births.
The Taliban’s prohibition of education and employment for women, including female health care professionals, severely affected women’s lives, and undermined the health of the country’s women and families.
Moreover, the significant decrease in financial and technical development assistance for Afghanistan’s public health system since the Taliban takeover in August 2021 has greatly harmed the country’s healthcare infrastructure.
The combination of economic collapse, insufficient and inconsistent donor support for healthcare, and Taliban interference with human rights has significantly undermined access to and the quality of maternal and child healthcare.
The health and humanitarian crisis in the central region of Afghanistan, particularly in Bamyan and Daykundi provinces, which are predominantly Hazara areas, was already severe even prior to the Taliban takeover of power. The region was largely neglected by the government and its international donors.
WHO says that the new project aims to strengthen the capacity of three district hospitals in Bamyan to provide high-quality maternal and child health services.
“WHO will equip the hospitals and female health workers with the necessary supplies, medicines, and equipment, as well as providing capacity-building for the health workers,” the organization stated.
According to the WHO statement, the project will target a population of about 134,876 individuals, including 52,870 pregnant and postpartum women, and 63,282 children under the age of 5 years.
Dr. Jamshed Tanoli, acting WHO representative in Afghanistan said that the project will “enable us to extend essential health services to some of Afghanistan’s underserved areas, particularly focusing on the welfare of women and children.”
“It underscores the significance of addressing the pressing health needs of these vulnerable groups. Further, it underscores the indispensable role played by donors and partners, whose support enables WHO to effectively deliver life-saving interventions to those who are most in need.”
