Afghanistan Mortality Survey 2010 - Measure DHS

4.4 PROBLEMS IN ACCESSING HEALTH CAREMany factors can prevent women from getting medical advice or treatment for themselves whenthey are sick. Information on such factors is particularly important in understanding and addressing thebarriers that women may face in seeking care during pregnancy and at the time of delivery. In the AMS2010, women were asked a series of questions with respect to barriers or problems in accessing healthcare. The results are shown in Table 4.13.An overwhelming majority (78 percent) of women expressed that a lack of money was animportant problem in accessing health care for themselves. More than 70 percent of women also reportedthat distance to a facility and transportation problems were a big hindrance for accessing health service.Other problems mentioned were lack of medicines at the facility (30 percent), not having someone toaccompany them (29 percent), security concerns (28 percent), and the lack of good service at the facility(27 percent). About one in five women (23 percent) expressed concern that there may not be a femalehealth provider, and 15 percent expressed concerns over the inconvenient service hours in the facility.Relatively fewer women perceived getting permission from someone else as a barrier to seeking healthcare for themselves. Not surprisingly, rural women, women with no education, those from the pooresthouseholds, and those from the most remote households were more likely than other women to state thataccessing health care for any reason is a big problem.86 | Maternal Health