A US$59.6 million grant to improve the health of Afghan women and children in a country where a quarter of all children do not survive beyond their fifth birthday has been approved by the World Bank.

The project to develop basic health services and ensure that women and children have access to them will be implemented by the Health Ministry of Afghanistan. The country’s infant mortality rate of 165 deaths to children under one year of age per thousand live births is among the highest in the world. The national maternal mortality rate is equally alarming – 1,600 deaths of women due to pregnancy and childbirth complications per 100,000 live births.

By comparison, the respective infant and maternal death rates for the United States of America are seven and eight and for Japan, four and eight, according to the 2002 United Nations Human Development Report.
(Source: POPLINE, September-October 2003)