Health care for Afghan women refugees

With thousands of Afghans pouring into Pakistan, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has said it is concerned over the lack of available health facilities, particularly for women. In response to this, the IPPF is setting up reproductive health care services for refugee families on the country's borders with Afghanistan. "We are concerned about women and girls. They have virtually been thrown out of their country into an alien environment," Indira Kapoor, the South Asia regional director for IPPF in London, told IRIN on Tuesday. Kapoor said pregnancy and childbirth were already dangerous enough for Afghan women, due to malnutrition and a lack of health care in their country. There are no female doctors available, because they are not allowed to work under the strictures enforced by the ruling Taliban militia. The UN estimates that 99 percent of births in Afghanistan are unattended, while the maternal mortality rate of 17 deaths per 1,000 is the world's second highest. Afghan women have a life expectancy of only 44 years. IPPF will be setting up family planning clinics in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, where some 15,000 refugees are said to have gathered after crossing the border, and in the North West Frontier Province. The programmes will be initiated by a Pakistani family planning NGO. An integrated package of reproductive health services, including essential obstetric care, basic equipment and supplies for safe deliveries will be offered at the clinics. "The women will be living in tents without any privacy, and we want them to be able to look after themselves in the best possible way," Kapoor said. The relief agency will also be setting up similar facilities at camps on the Iranian border with Afghanistan. Staff at IPPF say they will be training girls as counsellors in health, hygiene and sexual and reproductive health issues. "The women also need someone to talk to. We think this is crucial that they need to be able to express themselves," said Kapoor.