Afghanistan Mortality Survey 2010 - Measure DHS

FOREWORDThe Afghanistan Mortality Survey (AMS) 2010 is the first nationwide survey of its kind. The survey whichcovers all 34 provinces of the country was designed to measure mortality levels and cause of death, with a specialfocus on maternal mortality. The information collected in the survey provides mortality trends by age and sex aswell as estimates for sub-national, urban-rural and socioeconomic status. Furthermore, the survey provides currentdata on fertility, family planning and the extent of utilization of maternal and child health services.The impetus for the fielding of a survey of this nature and magnitude came from the critical need forrepresentative and reliable data on the general health status of the country in the wake of decades of war. It was feltthat re-construction efforts will benefit from a baseline of information on basic demographic and health estimates forthe country as a whole. More importantly, the survey was important for gauging the success of development effortsand years of multi-sectoral investment by international partners. This survey was completed in 87% of the country.However, the survey teams were unable to cover rural areas of Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul provinces for securityreasons that account for 9% of the total population or one-third of the population of the south of Afghanistan. Theinsecurity compromised monitoring of field work especially in the South zone.The survey was undertaken in close collaboration with key stakeholders in various sectors of thegovernment, researchers, civil society organizations, and international organizations. The planning andimplementation of the survey was carried out jointly by the Afghan Public Health Institute (APHI) of the Ministry ofPublic Health (MoPH) and the Central Statistics Organization (CSO). Their commitment to the successfulimplementation of the survey is very much appreciated.Our heartfelt appreciation goes to all the partners who directly or indirectly contributed to the survey effort.We wish to particularly thank the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World HealthOrganization (WHO) and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) for their generosity in co-funding thissurvey, and acknowledge the valuable partnership between ICF Macro and the Indian Institute for HealthManagement Research (IIHMR) in providing technical and logistical support.We are especially grateful to the field staff and other survey personnel for their courage and determinationin conducting and monitoring fieldwork and ensuring its completion under extremely difficult and dangerousconditions. Most of all the survey would not have been a success without the active participation of thousands ofAfghan men and women whom we thank for their hospitality in welcoming complete strangers into their householdsand for taking their time in answering the survey questions.It is our hope that this report will be useful for results-oriented decision-making, and inform servicedelivery and promote advocacy in neglected sectors of the country. This report provides only a snapshot of theanalysis that can be done with the data that have been collected. It is our sincere hope that researchers will deepenour understanding of the topics covered in the survey by undertaking further research with the survey dataset.This survey reveals that substantial investment must be maintained to safeguard these hard-won gains inmaternal and child health and to ensure continuity of overall achievements.Suraya Dalil, MD, MPHActing Minister of Public HealthMinistry of Public HealthKabul, AfghanistanForeword | xiii