Dying for life in Afghanistan
Tan Ee Lyn, 1/6/08
Tradition, customs and war have combined to make mortalities among pregnant women and their newborn one of the enduring tragedies of Afghanistan. A woman lies screaming in agony and hemorrhages to death in a spartan hut in a remote region of Afghanistan. There is no doctor or midwife to help and the hospital is several days’ journey away. Women die this way every day in Afghanistan, a country with one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates. Out of every 100,000 live births, about 1600 Afghan women die in childbirth. That’s one mother dying every 27 minutes. In some of the most remote areas the death rate is as high as 6500. In comparison, the average rate in developing countries is 450. In developed countries it is nine.
See: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/dying-for-life-in-afghanistan/2008/05/31/1211654373471.html
Tags: Afghanistan, Children, Womens Rights