Sign up for our newsletter.

Quality journalism. Progressive values. Direct to your inbox.

Follow us:

THIS ISN’T A PAYWALL

Common Dreams will never be locked behind a paywall because we believe our journalism should remain freely available to everyone ― not just those who can afford to pay. By becoming a sustaining monthly donor today, you can help make sure our work remains free for those who aren't able to chip in.

To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.

To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.

Corporate gatekeepers and big tech monopolists are making it more difficult than ever for independent media to survive. Please chip in today.

To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.

A hospital ward in Afghanistan.

People receive medical treatment at a local hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 27, 2021, after a bombing near Kabul's airport. (Photo: Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Aid Groups Warn Afghan Health System on Verge of 'Collapse'

"Urgent international action is needed to support millions of people with the necessities of life through the coming months and Afghanistan's harsh winter," said head of the Afghan Red Crescent.

Julia Conley

International aid agencies working in Afghanistan are sounding the alarm over a health system at "risk of collapse" as Western financial support to the war-torn nation was slashed following the Taliban's return to power last month.
 
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Monday said $200 million is urgently needed to help provide essential health services to 3.4 million people, as well as food assistance, the treatment of malnutrition, and sanitation and hygiene aid.

"When we hear messages from the World Bank—whether they say that they have put our funds on hold, or they've frozen them—what that means to me is 3,700 health facilities will collapse. That the health of 35 million people will collapse."
—Dr. Wahid Majrooh, Public Health Minister

 
The urgent funding call was made in addition to an appeal for $1.3 billion in humanitarian aid that was made at the end of last year, which, as Al Jazeera reported, "remains severely underfunded."
 
The World Bank announced last month that it would halt all aid to Afghanistan as a way of sanctioning the Taliban, but as Public Health Minister Dr. Wahid Majrooh told Business Insider last week, such funding cuts have put the people of Afghanistan in danger and the health system at "risk of collapse."
 
"We have a resilient healthcare system, but it's too dependent on aid," Majrooh said. "When we hear messages from the World Bank or the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund donors—whether they say that they have put our funds on hold, or they've frozen them—what that means to me is 3,700 health facilities will collapse. That the health of 35 million people will collapse."
 
The OCHA reported late last week in its weekly humanitarian update that provincial hospitals were limiting their services "due to budget constraints."
 
"In Uruzgan, the provincial hospital downgraded their services to emergency and trauma only while outpatient department services and other services were suspended," the report read.
 
Early next week, the U.N. will meet to discuss a "looming humanitarian catastrophe" in Afghanistan as the country's healthcare system buckles.
 
Before the Taliban's return to power, Afghanistan relied heavily on foreign aid while under U.S.-backed military occupation. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) told the outlet that medical providers have been working without salaries for months and hospitals are running low on medicines—crises which have been exacerbated in the last several weeks.
 
"Potential collapse of the healthcare system is one of our major concerns," Martine Flokstra, an operations manager for MSF, told Al Jazeera.
 
A medic working with the organization in Herat wrote in a dispatch from the field on Monday that the number of malnourished people who need treatment at the hospital there is growing following the end of the United States' 20-year war in Afghanistan, and that overcrowding at the hospital is becoming a problem as patients are turned away from clinics that have lost funding:
 
Now the main worry is that the other health facilities, for example those that receive funding from the World Bank, won't be able to carry on their work in Herat as the World Bank has stopped its funding. There’s no clear picture about what will happen. Some staff working for other organizations haven't received salaries for months, this has happened before but then people had hope they would be paid eventually. Now, with so much uncertainty, people tell me they have no hope and many are looking for another job.
 
"Treating patients is our responsibility, that’s how I think about it," the medic wrote. "Right now, we are the only international organization working in Herat. Before, we could refer people to other health providers but now it feels like when people come to us we are their last option."
 
 
The World Health Organization and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) are among the groups calling for increased aid to support Afghanistan's health system.
 
The IFRC noted that the impending collapse of the healthcare system comes amid a widespread drought and the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as continuing conflict.
 
"After living through decades of hardships, Afghans now face the ravages of a climate crisis, a global pandemic, and internal displacement," Mohammad Nabi Burhan, acting secretary general of Afghan Red Crescent, told Al Jazeera.

"Urgent international action is needed to support millions of people with the necessities of life through the coming months and Afghanistan's harsh winter," he said.

The U.N. said 18 million people—about half of Afghanistan's population—are currently facing a humanitarian disaster, and the other half of the country could soon join them.

"Providing aid to all vulnerable Afghans in need must be our top priority," said Martin Griffiths, the U.N.'s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, on social media on Monday.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Comments

We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.

To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.

Related

Latest News

See all
Pramila Jayapal

Jayapal Says Corporate-Friendly No Labels Shows 'True Colors' by Undermining Jan. 6 Investigation

"To malign the January 6 Committee as a 'partisan exercise' is a dangerous message for the American public and our democracy—one that deeply undermines the committee's work and denies the truth about the Republican Party."

Brett Wilkins ·

Doctors rally for abortion rights

As End of Roe Looms, US Doctors Say 'Abortion Is Essential Healthcare'

"Although ACOG's long-standing abortion policy supported safe, legal, evidence-based abortion care, the current reproductive health crisis calls for revisions which make it unmistakably clear that ACOG trusts doctors and patients," said the group.

Julia Conley ·

New York state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi holds a press conference in Albany on June 2, 2021. (Photo: NYS Senate Photo/CC BY 2.0)

Biaggi to Primary 'Selfish Corporate Democrat' Sean Patrick Maloney in NY

The New York state senator says she's running "to protect and defend our democracy, to halt the climate crisis, to grow our supply of affordable housing, and to transform our government and economy to serve us all."

Andrea Germanos ·

Economic justice advocates march in Memphis, Tennessee on May 23, 2022.

'Not About Nostalgia': Poor People's Campaign Marches in Memphis Ahead of DC Gathering

"It's been 54 years since the sanitation worker's march," said Bishop William J. Barber II, "and right here in Memphis they still don't have union rights."

Kenny Stancil ·

A gas flare is seen at an oil well site

Greenhouse Gases Trapped Nearly 50% More Heat Last Year Than in 1990: NOAA

"Getting hot in here," said one climate campaigner. "Gotta get congressmen and senators to do more midday outdoor events in their dark suits."

Jessica Corbett ·

Most Popular

 
  1. 'We Have to Flip This Seat': After Senate Primary Win, Fetterman Shifts Focus to Beating GOP
  2. 'Perverse' Supreme Court Ruling 'Effectively Ensures That Innocent People Will Remain Imprisoned'
  3. Florida Student's Graduation Speech About Curly Hair Highlights Cruelty of 'Don't Say Gay' Law
  4. Nearly 90,000 Small Businesses in US Expected to Close After Senate GOP Kills Main Street Relief Bill
  5. 'She Can Win If We Stand With Her': Sanders to Rally for Cisneros in Texas
  6. In Telling Slip, George W. Bush Condemns the 'Unjustified and Brutal Invasion of Iraq'
  7. Trump-Loving Americans Drinking Deep From Orban's Fascist Well
  8. Omar Leads Charge Against Baby Formula Monopolies Amid US Shortage
  9. Why Seniors Like Me Are Fighting Against Medicare Direct Contracting and ACO REACH
  10. 'After Which Failed Pregnancy Should I Have Been Imprisoned?' Asks Rep. Lucy McBath
Common Dreams Logo

To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.