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Afghanistan experiencing the highest maternal death rates in Asia amid funds suspension

Thursday, 10 March 2022 1:25 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 10 March 2022 7:28 PM ]

Rahmatullah Baghban
Press TV, Kabul

According to a report by the UN Population Fund, Afghanistan is registering the highest maternal mortality rate in Asia-Pacific region as the US freezes the country's oversea assets amid Western sanctions.

People and experts are afraid the situation gets worse without timely action. Afghan officials say this situation is due to sudden drops in foreign funding and Western sanctions.

We visited Dasht-e-Barch hospital, containing the only maternity ward in western Kabul. Today it receives less patients as it is going under-funded and under-staffed.

Mothers and patients call for the restoration of funds to the hospital and the resumption of MSF services.

Donors were spending about $1 billion annually on Afghanistan's health sector, but major funding ceased when the Taliban returned to power and the US sanctioned the country.

Afghan hospitals are running out of facilities and medications. Doctors warn that more and more Afghan mothers and children will die if the international community fails to provide urgent assistance.

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