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Health in Afghanistan is in need of improvement due to the country being in a state of civil war for the last three decades. According to the Human Development Index, Afghanistan is the 15th least developed country in the world. The Ministry of Public Health deals with matters concerning the health of Afghanistan's population. After Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001, when the United Nations began focusing on the situation in Afghanistan, improvement slowly began in the health care system of the country. According to USAID, infant mortality rate has decreased by 22% and child mortality has dropped by 26% since 2003. It was reported in 2006 that nearly 60% of the population lives within two hours walking distance of the nearest health facility, up from nine percent in 2002. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the average life expectancy at birth is reported at around 60 years for both sexes. In 2013, Harvard Medical school and NATO published a report on the impact of the conflict on the Afghan health system.〔https://www.jallc.nato.int/newsmedia/docs/afghanistan_case_study.pdf〕 ==History== Beginning in 1979, military conflict destroyed the health system of Afghanistan. Most medical professionals left the country by 1992, and all medical training programs ceased. In 2003, there were 11 physicians and 18 nurses per 100,000 population, and the per capita health expenditure was $28 US dollars. The nation had one medical facility for every 27,000 people in 2004, and some centers were responsible for as many as 300,000 people. An estimated one-quarter of the population had no access to health care. The international organizations provided a large share of medical care. The drought of 1999–2002 exacerbated these conditions. An estimated 800,000 Afghans are disabled.〔(Afghanistan country profile ). Library of Congress Federal Research Division (May 2006). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.''〕 Infant, child, and maternal mortality rates in Afghanistan reached the highest in the world, by some estimates as high as 275 per 1,000. In rural areas, one in six children die before reaching age five. This is because of poor sanitation and insufficient potable water supply, infectious and parasitic diseases such as malaria and diarrhea are very common. Malnutrition and poor nutrition also are pervasive. User fees have been a major deterrent to accessing health care. Various interventions have been devised to improve uptake of health care services, including the distribution of waiver cards to very poor and female-headed households and the introduction of community-based health insurance. Following the national user fee ban in 2008, a pilot study conducted by the Future Health Systems consortium found a 400% increase in utilization of services that had previously charged fees for services and medicine. The government's strategy to collaborate with non-governmental organisations has led to higher primary health outcomes among the poor, with relatively high levels of perceived health care quality reported by clients in a recent study of primary care services. The physical and psychological effects of war have substantially increased the need for medical care. In the last decade a number of new hospitals were established, with the most advanced treatments being available in Kabul. The French Medical Institute for Children and Indira Gandhi Childrens Hospital in Kabul are the leading children's hospitals in the country. Some of the other main hospitals in Kabul include the 350-bed Jamhuriat Hospital, the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan Hospital, and the Jinnah Hospital, which is still under construction. There are also a number of well-equipped military controlled hospitals in different regions of the country. 2011 surveys show that 57 percent of Afghans say they have good or very good access to clinics or hospitals,〔 and Afghans themselves pay approximately 75% of health care costs directly. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Health in Afghanistan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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