page_title: Healthcare in Afghanistan
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Healthcare in Afghanistan / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Attendees to the opening ceremony of the Kandahar Nursing and Midwifery Institute participate in the ribbon cutting May 9, 2012 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The Kandahar Nursing and Midwifery will be able to train up to 800 students, both male and female, a year in nursing, midwifery, pharmacy, lab and dental services. (Photo ID: 577810)
context_page_description: The decades of war destroyed Afghanistan's already-poor health care system. Most medical professionals left the country by 1992, and all medical training programs ceased. In 2003, there were 11 physicians and 18 nurses per 100,000 population, and the per capita health expenditure was $28 US dollars. The nation had one medical facility for every 27,000 people in 2004, and some centers were responsible for as many as 300,000 people. An estimated one-quarter of the population had no access to health care. The international organizations provided a large share of medical care. The drought of 1999–2002 exacerbated these conditions.
  Between 2014 and 2019 420 new health facilities were established including the first neurosurgery hospital.
context_section_description: It was reported in 2006 that an estimated 800,000 Afghans are disabled. Infant, child, and maternal mortality rates in Afghanistan reached the highest in the world, by some estimates as high as 275 per 1,000. In rural areas, one in six children die before reaching age five. This is because of poor sanitation and insufficient potable water supply, infectious and parasitic diseases such as malaria and diarrhea are very common. Malnutrition and poor nutrition also are pervasive.
caption: Opening ceremony at a public health clinic in Kandahar province of Afghanistan (May 2012).
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