HDR Country Profile: Afghanistan

The American Public Health Association (APHA), was founded in 1872 dedicated to improving the health of all U.S. residents. Two of the Association’s most important functions are advocacy for adoption by the government of the most current scientific advances relevant to public health, and public education on how to improve community health. Along with these efforts, they have also campaigned for developing well-organized health departments at both the federal and local levels. In 1966, APHA…

Decision making in health care involves consideration of a complex set of diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic uncertainties. Medical therapies have side effects, surgical interventions may lead to complications, and diagnostic tests can produce misleading results. Furthermore, patient values and service costs must be considered. Decisions in clinical and health policy require careful weighing of risks and benefits and are commonly a trade-off of competing objectives: maximizing quality of life vs maximizing life expectancy vs minimizing…

This article, published in Health Policy and Planning, disaggregates data on pregnancies in Afghanistan to evaluate health outcomes and cost-effectiveness of interventions related to childbirth. These interventions include antenatal care, family planning, skilled birth attendance, access to transport, referral facilities, and quality of overall care. Outcomes include pregnancy-related complications, maternal deaths, maternal mortality ratios, costs and cost-effectiveness ratios.  The authors report that increasing family planning would be the most effective individual intervention. The model suggests…