It was released on Wednesday (30 November) and indicates that increased access to healthcare in Afghanistan has led to the improvements.
It shows the country's maternal mortality ratio is now below 500 deaths per 100,000 live births.
The figures compare favourably with a
UN study in 2005, which said maternal mortality rates were 1800 deaths per 100,000 live births.
The survey also reveals a dramatic decrease in infant and child mortality rates over the last five years.
It shows one in 10 children in Afghanistan dies before they are five years old, while studies carried out five years ago showed that one in five died before reaching that age.
Bashir Noormal, director general of the Afghan Public Health Institute, said: ‘There have been many changes in the health sector and that is why we have so many positive changes.’
The survey was conducted by the Afghan Health Ministry and shows the country now has more hospitals, clinics, trained healthcare workers and doctors.
It was sponsored and funded by international organisations including
UNICEF, the
World Health Organization, the US government and the British Department for International Development.
It is the most comprehensive health survey to date in Afghanistan, despite the exclusion of some rural areas in the south where international forces are fighting insurgents.
Afghan Save the Children country director, David Skinner, said the statistics are ‘encouraging’.
‘These results also show that international aid, which has funded many of the public health programmes in Afghanistan, has made a real difference - saving many children's lives,’ he said.
‘But donor governments need to build on this success, and continue to invest in Afghanistan in ways that directly benefit ordinary Afghans.’
