KABUL (BNA) Public Health Ministry, in cooperation with the Qatari Red Crescent Society, celebrated International Midwife Day with the slogan “One Hundred Years of Progress”.
Addressing an occasion Mohammad Ishaq Sahebzadeh the deputy of the Public Health Ministry called on the international community and aid agencies to work with the Afghan health sector, irrespective of political issues, so that the Afghan people can benefit from health services.
Qatar embassy in Kabul and Red Crescent Society says they have provided vocational training to 24 midwives to expand health services to mothers and infants in rural Afghanistan.
Qatar’s ambassador to Kabul, Saeed Mubarak Al-Khayarin, said his country was committed to assisting Afghanistan in various sectors, expressly in providing health services and providing humanitarian assistance.
Despite promises by relevant authorities to support midwives and to expand services in the health sector, the Nurses and Midwives Council calls on the government and international donors to provide more support to nurses and midwives.
Heelya Ghoorsheen, chairwoman of the High Council of Nurses and Midwives, referred to midwives as the backbone of the health sector and said that the institution is advocating for midwives to ensure their rights while providing standard education.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, congratulated the “International Day of Midwives” and appreciated the Qatari Red Crescent Society for its assistance to the Afghan Health Department.
Mujahid called on the leadership of the Ministry of Public Health to address the problems of midwives, ensure their safety and pay their dues.
“International Midwife Day” is being celebrated in Afghanistan while millions of women and children in the country suffer from a lack of access to health services, quoted United Nations and health agencies.
Lack of access to health services is measured to be one of the major ground reasons for maternal and infant mortality. According to the High Council of Nurses and most midwives working in remote areas have not received vocational training or have primary education in this sector.
W/A
