Afghanistan’s health care system, crippled by war, has poor infrastructure compounded by dilapidated facilities that are not easy to get to. Women and girls comprise the largest category of vulnerable people in Afghanistan, facing barriers to education, health care and other necessary services. There is a chronic shortage of skilled health providers (especially female) and important information about health services is not reaching its intended audience.

Canada is supporting the restoration of Afghanistan’s health care systems, with projects such as the construction of an obstetric facility in Kandahar – the first of its kind in Afghanistan, part of an Afghan government initiative to increase the number of women giving birth with the aid of trained birth attendants. This facility is expected to receive 1,000 patients every year.

Working closely with the Government of Afghanistan and the international community, Canada hopes to eliminate polio completely in Afghanistan by 2009. Canada’s partners in the international community include the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. This project will make it possible to improve the general health of Afghans and to strengthen the delivery of health services in Afghanistan.

Other challenges to improving the health of Afghans include eliminating the threat of landmines that maim and kill dozens of people a day, many of them women and children. Inadequate access to medical facilities leads to a larger number of deaths as people succumb to their landmine injuries.

Another Canadian focus is mine clearing and mine education, and since 2006, 346 square kilometres of land has been released to communities across Afghanistan. Canada's 2011 target is to have 500 square kilometres of land released and made available to communities. Mine-risk education continues in Kandahar, with Canadian funding helping mine-risk education teams reach more than 13,000 people.