Zahira walks back from visiting a pregnant woman who is worried she might have to give birth without a midwife. Dahan-e-Tokhomak, Miramor district, Daikundi province, Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan’s remote Daikundi province, US aid cuts have left pregnant women without access to care, forcing many to give birth at home in a country with one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates. The cuts have led to the suspension or closure of 422 health facilities nationwide, including small community clinics staffed by a single midwife, many of whom are now working without salary or supplies. This crisis compounds an already critical situation under Taliban rule; girls are banned from education beyond primary school, preventing a new generation from training as health workers.
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