November 4, 2007

Taliban Removal Saving 90,000 Children Per Year

The removal of the Taliban ended the brutal application of shari'a law that resulted in executions, mutilations, and oppression for Afghanistan's adults. Now a new study by Johns Hopkins University shows that the destruction of the Taliban saves thousands of children every year through access to modern medicine. The mortality rate for children under five years of age dropped by 25% in the five years since 2001:

Close to 90,000 children who would have died before age 5 in Afghanistan during Taliban rule will stay alive this year because of advances in medical care in the country, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday.

The under-5 child mortality rate in Afghanistan has declined from an estimated 257 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2001 to about 191 per 1,000 in 2006, the Ministry of Public Health said, relying on a new study by Johns Hopkins University.

The U.N. and aid agency Save the Children both hailed the advances in health care in Afghanistan.

"This is certainly very positive news," said the U.N. spokesman in Afghanistan, Adrian Edwards. "To come from such low life expectancy to see this improvement does appear to be an indication that the work on the health sector here is beginning to pay off."

The UN deserves a round of applause in this effort. One of the tasks they manage to do without running away or abusing the locals is their outreach on behalf of children. UNICEF and other UN aid organizations have succeeded in helping to save children through the introduction of regular health care, parental education, and food deliveries. Hamid Karzai gave credit where it was due.

However, the reason the UN had access to do this work was because of the US effort to topple the Taliban. Had the US not invaded Afghanistan and assisted the Northern Alliance in deposing Mullah Omar and his band of lunatics, Afghan children would have continued to die needlessly by the tens of thousands. Their parents would also have continued to live in fear of death from the sadists of the Taliban.

Their mortality rate remains far too high. Afghan children at 5 or younger die at a rate of 191 per 1000, meaning that almost 20% of all such children will not live to see age 6. More work needs to be done, but thanks to the US military and the Bush administration, that work can be done. America can take pride in the hundreds of thousands of children who now live, thanks to our efforts to bring some measure of freedom to Afghanistan.

Posted by Ed Morrissey on November 4, 2007 6:37 PM | Comments () | TrackBacks (0)

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Captain Ed is a father and grandfather living in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, a native Californian who moved to the North Star State because of the weather. He lives with his wife Marcia, also known as the First Mate, their two dogs, and frequently watch their granddaughter Kayla, whom Captain Ed calls The Little Admiral.

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