Afghanistan: MSF Opens Maternity Hospital in Khost

The international medical humanitarian organization MSF has opened a new maternity hospital in eastern Khost Province in Afghanistan, which will provide pregnant women in the region with desperately needed high-quality health care.

Decades of conflict have left Afghanistan with maternal and child mortality rates among the highest in the world. Most women, especially in rural areas, must resort to giving birth without skilled assistance and in unhealthy conditions, which puts their own lives and those of their children at significant risk.

Khost is one of Afghanistan’s most volatile provinces, where national and international military forces have engaged in intense fighting with armed opposition groups in recent years. The conflict has affected the ability of women to access adequate maternal health care.

Photo: Afghanistan 2011 © Peter Casaer
A child with diarrhea in the pediatric department at Boost Hospital in Helmand Province, where MSF has been working since 2009.