Health Status of Afghanistan

Afghanistan has one of the worst health statuses in the world. It has a maternal mortality rate of 460 deaths/100,000 live births, as of 2010 UNICEF report. Its death rate is 14.35 deaths/1,000 population (2013 CIA). The total fertility rate is 6.3 (MICS 2003). Two of the most prominent health concerns are tuberculosis and malaria. Tuberculosis is a disease that is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is estimated that nearly three million people are killed by tuberculosis each year, with 10,500 people every year in Afghanistan. Malaria is a deadly infectious mosquito-borne disease that can cause fatal deaths if treatment is not available. It kills 1.2 million people every year, with 37 deaths every hour in Afghanistan. The key to these concerns is unsanitary waste disposal, work environment and the contamination of water. Although treatment to both health concerns is relatively inexpensive, its availability to some rural parts of Afghanistan remains problematic. To make the matter worse, there are a growing number of Afghan people infected with HIV/AIDS, a sexually transmitted disease that remains incurable in today’s society. Current studies show that 1,250 HIV cases have been reported in Afghanistan, with an estimation of 2,000 to 3,000 unreported ones. There is a great potential growth in the number of people infected with HIV in the near future if the number of injecting drug users (IDUs) does not cease. Ultimately, the fate of Afghanistan remains uncertain.