Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
One Out of 4 Afghan Children Dies Before Turning 5
Aired November 30, 2002 - 17:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Compare the luxury of health care we have right here in the United States to what's available half a world away. For example, did you know that one in four Afghan children will die before they turn five years old? CNN's Christy Feig reports from Kabul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTY FEIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This little boy named Salim (ph) looks like a newborn but he's actually seven months old. He weighs only six pounds, which is why his mother brought him here to this clinic for malnourished children.
"We tried to strengthen him but it didn't work." She has a lot of company. Half of all children under five in Afghanistan are malnourished. One out of four children will die before the age of five from common diseases like respiratory infection or measles.
DR. FEROZUDDIN, DEPUTY PUBLIC HEALTH MINISTER: If you look at the country health profile, our country is characterized by high infant children and maternal mortality rate.
FEIG: In fact, more women die here during childbirth than almost anywhere else in the world. They marry young and like Salim's mom have an average of seven children each.
DR. NATALIA AGUIRRE, MEDECINS SANS FRONTIER: They die from very basic things too. They die because of infection, because the delivery is done at home and not in a very clean manner. We have a lot of hemorrhage.
FEIG: According to the World Health Organization, life expectancy here is 45 for women and 44 for men.
FEIG (on camera): Many of the health problems here are from 23 years of war, which demolished the health system and the houses where children were raised. Add to that four years of drought which demolished the food supply.
FEIG (voice over): And there are other reasons. Islamic law forbids male doctors to touch a female patient's skin, even with a stethoscope so with the post-Taliban shortage of female doctors, diagnosing women can be difficult.
DR. WAHIDULLAH MAYR, AFGHAN DOCTOR: I can tell you that sometimes we handle the person correct and sometimes we make a very big mistake.
FEIG: Perhaps the biggest challenge is diagnosing any patient without the proper equipment.
MAYR: We didn't know about CT scan. We didn't now about MRI. We don't know about (UNINTELLIGIBLE) examinations.
FEIG: The main challenge to providing that type of care in Afghanistan is money. Experts say providing basic health care like immunizations for children, bare bones health clinics, and some generic medicine takes about $40 per person per year. By way of comparison, the U.S. spends an average of $4,000 per person on health care. But for now, the government here says it can only spare $2.50.
Christy Feig, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 30, 2002 - 17:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Compare the luxury of health care we have right here in the United States to what's available half a world away. For example, did you know that one in four Afghan children will die before they turn five years old? CNN's Christy Feig reports from Kabul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTY FEIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This little boy named Salim (ph) looks like a newborn but he's actually seven months old. He weighs only six pounds, which is why his mother brought him here to this clinic for malnourished children.
"We tried to strengthen him but it didn't work." She has a lot of company. Half of all children under five in Afghanistan are malnourished. One out of four children will die before the age of five from common diseases like respiratory infection or measles.
DR. FEROZUDDIN, DEPUTY PUBLIC HEALTH MINISTER: If you look at the country health profile, our country is characterized by high infant children and maternal mortality rate.
FEIG: In fact, more women die here during childbirth than almost anywhere else in the world. They marry young and like Salim's mom have an average of seven children each.
DR. NATALIA AGUIRRE, MEDECINS SANS FRONTIER: They die from very basic things too. They die because of infection, because the delivery is done at home and not in a very clean manner. We have a lot of hemorrhage.
FEIG: According to the World Health Organization, life expectancy here is 45 for women and 44 for men.
FEIG (on camera): Many of the health problems here are from 23 years of war, which demolished the health system and the houses where children were raised. Add to that four years of drought which demolished the food supply.
FEIG (voice over): And there are other reasons. Islamic law forbids male doctors to touch a female patient's skin, even with a stethoscope so with the post-Taliban shortage of female doctors, diagnosing women can be difficult.
DR. WAHIDULLAH MAYR, AFGHAN DOCTOR: I can tell you that sometimes we handle the person correct and sometimes we make a very big mistake.
FEIG: Perhaps the biggest challenge is diagnosing any patient without the proper equipment.
MAYR: We didn't know about CT scan. We didn't now about MRI. We don't know about (UNINTELLIGIBLE) examinations.
FEIG: The main challenge to providing that type of care in Afghanistan is money. Experts say providing basic health care like immunizations for children, bare bones health clinics, and some generic medicine takes about $40 per person per year. By way of comparison, the U.S. spends an average of $4,000 per person on health care. But for now, the government here says it can only spare $2.50.
Christy Feig, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
