Doha: Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) is implementing a project to support maternal and child health services in underserved Afghan provinces.
A study commenced under the community midwife training project in remote and underserved parts of Afghanistan. It is a $490,055 scheme launched by QRCS late in June, in cooperation with the Afghan Welfare Society, Organization for Promotion of Health and Community Development (OPHCD), the provincial health chapters of the Ministry of Health (MoH).
The objectives of the project are to reduce morbidity and mortality rates among the population, particularly mothers and infants; improve access to high-quality, life-saving, and basic health services towards better maternal and child health in remote and inaccessible areas; and build the technical and administrative capacity of community health professionals.
To that end, 24 trainees are attending a two-year course to be trained as community midwives in eight provinces — Badakhshan, Bamyan, Ghazni, Zabul, Kunduz, Wardak, Faryab, and Nuristan. They will receive theoretical and applied training at specialised hospitals or health centres, in accordance with MoH’s training programmes.
Throughout the training, all the requirements will be secured, such as trainers, materials, and accommodation, and other everyday life services. After graduation, each midwife is expected to offer primary health services, particularly in reproductive health, for up to 4,800 cases per year within her own demographical sphere, or a total of 84,480 in all locations of the graduates.
Chairman of the Ministry of Economy’s office in Kabul, Lal Mohamed Walizada said they would make sure that the support provided by QRCS would be directed to the best interest of the Afghan people in all provinces.
He considered this training program a ‘long-term investment’ to qualify national medical professionals. The trainees, he asserted, are required to work hard and make the most out of these courses, in order to offer the best services for the target communities, which badly need their efforts in the future.
A representative of Shura Council of Ghazni Province, Abdul Jamei Jamei. praised the mechanism of selecting the trainees from the areas most in need, under the supervision of local authorities.
“I would like to thank those responsible for the project, and thanks QRCS for the funding. We hope there will be more support to establish health facilities in remote areas of the province,” said Jamei.
