From the very beginning.docVIP

From the very beginning, one of the U.S.government’s key goals in Afghanistan was toimprove the lives of Afghan women. Under draconian restrictions instituted by theTaliban, women lived in isolation. Girls were notallowed to be educated. Women, even infant girls, could not seek treatment from a male doctoror go to a hospital, and of course, women were not allowed to practice medicine. Small wonder, then, that women died young in Afghanistan. Ten years ago, an Afghan womancould expect to live 45 years, about two years less than her husband. Her chances of dying inchildbirth were the highest in the world—for every 100,000 deliveries, 1,600 Afghan womendied. So, working through the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, the U.S.government partnered with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health, international organizationssuch as UNICEF, and Afghan non-governmental organizations to begin delivery of primaryhealth care services in both rural and country settings. To ensure long-term improvement and sustainability of the health-care system, USAID alsobegan to support training for thousands of doctors, nurses, midwives and community healthworkers. USAID also began to build and support hundreds of health care clinics. Today nearlyone million patients per month are treated at one of 540 USAID-sponsored clinics. 76 percentof patients are women and children. Between 2002 and 2012, USAID invested more than one billion dollars into improving healthcare services in Afghanistan. Today, an Afghan woman can look forward to an extra two decades of life. And more than everbefore, she is also far more likely to survive pregnancy. The rate of maternal deaths inchildbirth has dropped by over 75 percent, from 1,600 to 327 deaths per 100,000 deliveries.And due to prenatal, neonatal and pediatric care, her children are two and a half times morelikely to survive past the age of 5. By supporting the women of Afghanistan, the United States is supporting Afghan families andcommuni