Pakistan

Women and children are the main victims

Access to good quality health services is very limited for the communities of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the people displaced by the conflict affecting the tribal areas in the border region (FATA). The local healthcare system is extremely fragile and is struggling to cope with the influx of displaced people. Meanwhile the level of care available for the host communities was already poor.

The region is also frequently afflicted by natural disasters, including flooding, landslides and earthquakes, which increase population movements and delay access to care.

As is often the case, it is women and children who are most affected. Too many women die during pregnancy or while giving birth, due to haemorrhages, infections or preeclampsia (a serious complication resulting from pregnancy-induced hypertension).

The fertility rate is above 3 and is one of the highest in Asia.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 50% of women receive no antenatal care and only one in five women have access to modern methods of contraception. Too many children die from asphyxia at birth or from diarrhoea or pneumonia during their first years of life.

Sexual and reproductive health - a taboo subject

When it comes to accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH), Pakistani women and girls face numerous difficulties – economic, social and cultural. Their rights and the freedom to make decisions and take control of their sexuality are often ignored and disregarded which has an impact on their health. Thus, improving access to good family planning services is a real challenge for Pakistan.

In the Punjab region, cultural and religious practices prevent girls and women from accessing family planning. A quarter of the population here is aged between 9 and 19 years old, women are married very young and the numbers of adolescent pregnancies are rising. There is an enormous need for sexual and reproductive healthcare and advice, but social workers struggle to address these issues.