A new report by Human Rights Watch paints a grim picture of Afghanistan's healthcare system, revealing significant deterioration since the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
In its Feb. 12 report looking into
Afghanistan’s worsening health crisis, HRW found that drastic cuts in foreign aid, spurred by economic instability and Taliban policies impacting women's and girls' rights, have left the system struggling, leading to increased malnutrition and poor access to medical care.
Based on interviews with foreign aid officials, healthcare workers, and people seeking health care, HRW
found that donors’ decision to withdraw their financial support following the regime change in 2021 has led to a “catastrophic health crisis” in the South Asian country.
As expected, it has disproportionately affected women and girls, who are already bearing the brunt of the Taliban’s draconian policies limiting their movement in work, school, and public spaces.
Citing the Médecins Sans Frontières, an international organization that provides medical assistance during conflicts, the HRW report said that girls make up around 55 percent of admissions for its outpatient and inpatient therapeutic feeding programs, with mortality almost 90 percent higher for girls than for boys.
This echoed an earlier report by the
International Crisis Group, which in February 2023 warned that about 11.6 million women and girls – who often receive the smallest share of food in families – would be severely impacted by aid cuts.
Afghanistan’s healthcare system has, for the past two decades,
mostly depended on the financial support of foreign donors coursed through programs by non-government and international organizations operating in Afghanistan.
One such healthcare program affected by the withdrawal of foreign aid is the Sehatmandi program run by the World Health Organization (WHO), which operates
64 percent of all public health facilities in Afghanistan and is regarded as the “backbone” of the country’s health services.
Following the loss of donor support for the Sehatmandi program, WHO in 2022
sounded an alarm for alternative means of funding after several of its health centers ran out of supplies and halted operations.
The next year, WHO again
issued an alert urging “ramped up investment in healthcare services in Afghanistan,” warning that 8 million people risked losing access to essential health assistance.