Afghanistan
(MNN) — Every day 44 Afghan women die giving birth. Contributing
factors to one of the world's highest maternal and infant death rates are a lack
of skilled delivery care and inadequate access to comprehensive emergency
obstetric care.
That's compounded by an insufficient number of qualified
female staff and ill-equipped facilities. CURE International is responding by instituting
a medical training and treatment fellowship program to combat this problem.
Participants of this program are trained to become qualified Afghan
doctors with the most modern obstetric and
gynecological knowledge and
techniques. A team has been active in Kabul since early
2005, and in that year CURE Kabul
opened its maternity unit. The hospital
and clinic together serve about 110 women each month.
In 2005, CURE also launched a
General Practice Residency Program, the OB/
GYN Fellowship training program, and OB/GYN training for nurses and
midwives. That was followed by the
availability of ultrasound services and a refurbished maternity ward. Then at the end of 2005, the CURE International
Hospital opened a modern
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to address the needs of critically ill newborns,
premature newborns, and newborns requiring close observation.
The medical director of the CURE Kabul International Hospital
said the doctors enthusiastically embrace the program. CURE also incorporates a faith component in a
culturally relevant and sensitive way.
