by Mike Patterson
KABUL, April 6 (AFP) - Millions of Afghan women and children continue to face major health and nutrition problems, with maternal and infant mortality in the war-ravaged nation among the worst in the world, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Sunday.
"According to UNICEF, Afghanistan ranks as the fourth worst country in the world in terms of under-five mortality, with one in four children not surviving beyond their fifth birthday," spokesman Edward Carwardine told a press conference here on the eve of World Health Day.
This year's theme is Healthy Environment for Children. "The infant mortality rate is amongst the highest in the world, standing at 165 per 1,000 live births, while Afghanistan's maternal mortality ratio is equally alarming at 1,600 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births."
By comparison, the respective figures for the United States are seven and eight, for Britain six and seven and for Japan four and eight, according to the UN Human Development Report 2002.
There was a need to make communities more aware of the importance of women's health and ensure women get access to health care, he said.
"The major causes of death amongst pregnant women are actually very simple things such as haemorrhaging, obstructed labour. These are conditions which can be identified and treated very quickly if there are even basic health care facilities on the ground," Carwardine said.
UNICEF plans to establish emergency obstetric facilities in every province by the end of 2003. Under the Taliban women were frequently denied access to health care and education, while years of conflict and drought have also taken their toll in a country struggling to rebuild after 23 years of conflict.
"Major causes of mortality amongst children include diarrhoea, acute respiratory infection, malaria and micronutrient disorders. Chronic malnutrition also remains prevalent in Afghanistan," Carwardine said.
A survey in the western province of Badghis last year showed 58 percent of children under five suffered chronic malnutrition.
"Poor feeding, particularly very limited breastfeeding practices in Afghanistan, are clearly important factors in leading to a high prevalence of chronic malnutrition and micronutrient disorders," he said.
Educating mothers was important as women were not breastfeeding their children for long enough and were weaning them onto diets that were unsuitable and nutritionally lacking.
UNICEF representative Sharad Sapra said health improvement was vital to Afghanistan's development.
"Failing to tackle the health and nutritional challenges of Afghanistan will impede any serious long-term development in this country," Sapra said in a statement.
Despite international support, Sapra said there were still chronic gaps in funding for critical areas such as maternal health.
mtp/bc/hw AFP 060951 GMT 04 03
Copyright (c) 2003 Agence France-Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 04/06/2003 08:09:57