Infant Mortality in Afghanistan Essay

Afghanistan is a country which located in the south Asia and borders nations like Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It is one of the most politically unstable regions in the world whereby fighting between the United States forces and terrorist organization has ensued for a couple of years. As a result of the conflict, critical aspect of health have been hit the hardest making the countries health system on of the poorest in the world ("Health," n.d.). According to the data availed by the Human development index the country ranks at number 15 when considering the least developed countries in the world. It is estimated that the mean life expectancy of the Afghan people is around 60 years, which is relatively low compared to countries like Japan whose life expectancy is 84 years. The dominant religion in Afghanistan is Islam where 99% of the populations are devoted Muslims (Najafizada et al., 2017). However, terrorists have exploited this fact to spread and teach radical Islam doctrines to the younger generations and misquoted the Quran with the aim of recruiting children into terror cells. Such distorted believes further worsens the health care system in the country where most people have been denied access to medical care.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

In the 21st generation, no mother or infant should lose their lives during and after the child delivery. Afghanistan's infant mortality rate remains dangerously high with a maternal mortality rate of 400 deaths per 100,000 live births and an infant mortality rate of under -five years is about 257 children per every 1000 births (Viswanathan et al., 2010). While this is a significant improvement from the last twenty years, the number of the children lost is still high and is only surpassed by other developing countries such as Angola and Sierra Leone. However, due to the political instability and other challenges such as inaccessibility to some regions, and the unwillingness of the locals to participate in health-related surveys, the data indicated only represents a projection since no update has been made since 1993.

According to the report tabled by the World Bank in 2010, the leading causes of the high infant mortality rates include poor nutrition. Due to poor feeding, expectant mothers are unable to provide the unborn babies with the right nutrients required for the proper development of the child. As a result, the infant is born weak and unable to fight the many diseases and most eventually develop health-related complications. The report further suggests that nearly 55% of the young children below the age of 12 years suffer from mental and physical challenges due to poor diet (Halder & Yentis, 2016, p. 164). The other cause of the high infant mortality rate is the inadequate health facilities, where a large number of the Afghanistan people do not have access to health services. The hospitals available usually are far from most people especially those who live in the villages. The safety of the health workers is always in constant danger with most of the practitioners opting to stay near the towns or areas that are safe. The third factor that contributes to the mortality rate is the neonatal deaths, where such complications cause 35% of infant deaths. Common infections also carry a fair share of contribution in the infant mortality where acute infectious illnesses cause 19.7% of children's deaths ("World Development Indicators | The World Bank," n.d.). The table below summarizes factors that contribute to the high infant mortality rate in Afghanistan.

This research aims to identify the leading causes of high infant mortality rates in Afghanistan thus establishing a solution to these challenges. The children between the ages of 0-5 years will experience a 12.5% reduction in mortality rate in the next 15 years if the obstacles highlighted are addressed. The government of the Afghan people and other stakeholders must work as a team to ensure that healthcare facilities are availed all over the country. To achieve this goal; security and the state's infrastructure must be improved so that all areas are accessible to both the doctors and the parents. The parents should also be educated on the need to seek medical assistance during the pregnancy period and after the child is born so that proper immunization can be administered on the child and the mother to help them fight the infectious deceases.

Conclusion

The government and other world health agencies should move with haste to address the challenge of food shortage in Afghanistan. Due to food insecurity and traditional unhygienic practices, most children are exposed to some health issues that can be avoided. Poor diet means that the children have to survive on meals that are low in proteins and other essential nutrients to the body (Halder & Yentis, 2016, p. 165). The results are often undernourishment and chronic malnutrition disorders. Such should be prevented by the government educating its people on how to observe a healthy diet, providing them with relief food whenever there is drought and training them on new farming techniques which embrace planting of crops that are resistant to drought yet rich in nutrients required by the body.

References

Viswanathan, K., Becker, S., Hansen, P. M., Kumar, D., Kumar, B., Niayesh, H., ... Burnham, G. (2010). Infant and under-five mortality in Afghanistan: current estimates and limitations. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 88(8), 576-583. http://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.09.068957. Accessed 23 June 2018

Najafizada, S. A. M., Bourgeault, I. L., & Labonte, R. (2017). Social Determinants of Maternal Health in Afghanistan: A Review. Central Asian Journal of Global Health, 6(1), 240. http://doi.org/10.5195/cajgh.2017.240. Accessed 23 June 2018

Halder, S., & Yentis, S. (2016). Maternal mortality and morbidity. Oxford Medicine Online. doi:10.1093/med/9780198713333.003.0031

Health. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/afghanistan/health. Accessed 23 June 2018

World Development Indicators | The World Bank. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://wdi.worldbank.org/table/2.1. Accessed 23 June 2018