A year in Afghanistan — Herat hospital paediatric ward

摘要

Afghanistan's recovery from decades of conflict continues. Currently, the majority of health care is provided by national or international non-governmental organisations (NGOs); estimates suggest that over 80% of health facilities have some form of NGO involvement.1 However, ensuring access to the population poses great difficulties for such NGOs.2 The recent killing of five Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) workers highlights the fragility of their ability to respond. Moreover, the acute shortage of healthcare workers in the western provinces compounds the problem. The World Health Organisation suggests that there are 0.8 physicians and 0.1 midwives per 10 000 population.3 Although accurate data is scarce in a context of nearly continuous armed conflict and displaced populations, current estimates place Afghanistan's infant mortality rate at 165 per 1000 live births, and the mortality rate among children under 5 years of age at 257 per 1000 live births. This is among the highest in the world.4