The situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban took over is getting worse with time. It is getting difficult for female patients, especially pregnant women, to get medical attention on time. As per a report published in BBC, a male doctor was thrashed by the Taliban for attending a female patient alone. A midwife was quoted by BBC saying, “If a female doctor cannot see a woman, the male doctor can only see the patient where two or more other people are present.”
Reportedly, the Taliban have ordered hospitals and clinics to allow only female staff to attend to female patients making it difficult to provide medical attention on time. The experiences that pregnant women and midwives have shared are horrifying. One woman identified as Rabia told BBC that while delivering her third child, she had to encounter substantial difficulties. “It was horrible,” she said.
Recently, a female doctor had shared how she was beaten along with her family members by the Taliban in Kandahar. The NPR had reported in August about a doctor who was threatened by the Taliban because she had given a 13-year-old child bride a contraceptive shot.
She said the support in the hospital had been stripped down to bare basics with no access to pain relief medication or food. “We were sweating like we were taking a shower,” she claimed as there was no power of fuel for backup generators. Her midwife Abida said, “It was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in my job. It was too painful. But this is our story every night and every day in the hospital since the Taliban took over.” Rabia’s child was delivered in a mobile phone’s flashlight.
Experts worried about possible increase in maternal deaths
Afghanistan is one of the worse countries when it comes to the infant mortality rate. Currently, it stands at 638 deaths per 100,000 live births. According to World Health Organization (WHO), the situation was worse before allied forces took control of the country in 2001. However, according to United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA), if the situation keeps deteriorating with the Taliban taking over the country, Afghanistan may see up to 51,000 additional maternal deaths, 4.8 million unintended pregnancies and limited to no access to family planning clinics between by 2025.
Dr Wahid Majrooh, chief of public health, said, “Primary health facilities across Afghanistan are collapsing… maternal mortality rates, child mortality rates, will increase, unfortunately.” In addition, as the Taliban have locked the country, access to life-saving supplies and medicines for women’s reproductive health got affected to a large extent. Dr Majrooh added, “There is no preparation for the possibility of a fourth wave of Covid.”
No access to ambulance
BBC further reported that as funds have been frozen, it is next to impossible for the patients to get ambulance service. A pregnant woman was asked to get a taxi a few days ago as the ambulance was not available. She gave birth in a taxi and was brought to the hospital unconscious, with the newborn in a critical state. Fortunately, both survived, but not everyone is going to be that fortunate.
Female patients are returning from clinics without medicine. Long queues, limited to no access to medicines and Talibani rules that disallow women to go out without a man have worsened the situation. This rule keeps thousands of women away from healthcare as it is not always possible for women to find a male relative willing or available to spend hours in a clinic, especially in the war-torn country where most people are struggling for survival. The dilemma to choose between earning money to sustain life and spending hours in a clinic or a hospital will have a serious effect on the 54.5% of the population of Afghanistan that lives below the poverty line.
