Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
By Akhtar M.Nikzad-KABUL: The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said that lack of family planning and repeated pregnancies without adequate space between births pose serious threat to women’s life. “Still 327 out of 100,000 mothers lose their lives while giving birth,” the MoPH added.
The MoPH held a two-day workshop on family planning for health workers in provinces on Sunday to promote contraceptive methods of birth control.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Public Health, Ferozuddin Feroz, said despite receiving enough support from the international community, the MoPH has failed to improve access of women to healthcare services.
He termed lack of family planning and repeated pregnancies without adequate space between births endanger life of mothers. To reduce maternal mortality rate, Feroz stressed that healthcare services should be increased and women should observe a two-year gap between pregnancies.
He stressed that every baby should be breastfed for two years and during this period it is impossible for a woman to get pregnant.
Feroz said that the MoPH in cooperation with the international community will launch a campaign to raise public awareness regarding family planning through seeking support from media outlets, religious scholars and healthcare workers and local clinics. He said that lack of family planning also lead to many socio-economic problems in the country.
Zulaikha Anwari, an official in the MoPH, said that based on a survey 90 percent of women’s awareness has been raised about one method of birth control.
She said that 20 percent of families are using birth control methods and efforts are on raise the percentage to 40 through counseling over various contraception methods including using condom, oral pill, injecting, intrauterine device and family sterilization).
