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When the Taliban were forced out of Afghanistan in 2001, the country had some of the world’s worst health indicators. Following the introduction of basic health services, far fewer women now die because of childbirth. Earlier in May, Suraya Dalil, Afghanistan’s public health minister, said pregnancy is now safer and “the country is a better place for children to be born”.

But women still die needlessly as a result of childbirth because of security issues and the difficulty of accessing services. There is also a shortage of female health workers and facilities in rural areas.
SciDev.Net visited a healthcare clinic to hear from mothers and midwives how health policies are put into practice.