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Afghanistan will never achieve peace and prosperity unless the rich donor
nations meeting in Pakistan this week pledge to rebuild the country’s health
system, the World Health Organization warns. Infant mortality rates are among
the worst in the world, with one in four Afghan children dying before the age of
five, says the WHO. And lack of medical care means pregnancy complications kill
50 Afghan women a day. Communicable diseases are rampant, with 72,000 new cases
of TB a year. The UN Development Programme says rebuilding the Afghan economy
could cost more than $6.5 billion by 2006.