According to the United Nations Development Programme, Afghanistan’s under-five mortality rate is close to 25 percent. The Bayat Foundation, in keeping with its goal of improving health outcomes in Afghanistan, is seeking to create better access to health care for Afghans in the hope of lowering that number. Since nearly 60 percent of deaths before the age of five in the country come from treatable and preventable infections and diseases, the organization’s health care initiatives have significant potential to extend life expectancy by making it easier for Afghans to obtain care.
To make good on its goals, the foundation has partnered with NGOs and donors to build and expand hospitals around Afghanistan. Its recently completed projects include a children’s intensive care unit at Kabul’s Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital and a maternity ward at Rabea Balkhi Hospital, as well as two 30-bed maternity hospitals: one in Hessa Dowomand and one in Tagaab Village in Wardak Province.
The Bayat Foundation has thus far build 12 hospitals and clinics dedicated to improving maternal and early childhood health, helping Afghanistan make significant progress in providing modern birth environments. In 2009, nearly 200,000 children were born in facilities supported by the foundation’s initiatives.