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by IANS |
Kabul, March 18 (IANS) The World Health Organization (WHO) raised alarms about funding shortages in Afghanistan, warning that these shortages could lead to the shutdown of 80 per cent of essential healthcare services supported by the agency.
As of March 4, a total of 167 healthcare facilities in Afghanistan have ceased operations due to a lack of funding, cutting off life-saving medical care to 1.6 million people in 25 out of the country's 34 provinces, WHO said in a statement.
"Without urgent intervention, over 220 more facilities could close by June 2025, leaving an additional 1.8 million Afghans without access to primary healthcare," the statement added.
According to the statement, the northern, western, and northeastern regions of the country are the worst affected, with more than a third of healthcare centres closed down, Xinhua news agency reported.
Forty-one healthcare centres have been forced to shut down due to cuts in US assistance in the provinces of eastern Ghazni and central Bamiyan, local officials reported in February.
Reports from the Ministry of Economy indicate that following the suspension of US humanitarian assistance, 50 aid organisations in Afghanistan have ceased their operations.
Afghanistan is already battling multiple health emergencies, including outbreaks of measles, malaria, dengue, polio and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever. Without functioning health facilities, efforts to control these diseases are severely hindered.
Over 16,000 suspected measles cases, including 111 deaths, were reported in the first 2 months of 2025. With immunisation rates at critically low levels (only 51 per cent for the first dose of the measles vaccine and 37 per cent for the second), children are at heightened risk of preventable illness and death.
Disruptions to WHO-led coordination mechanisms prevent health partners from tracking disease outbreaks, allocating resources and delivering essential services and threaten to push the country’s already fragile health care system deeper into crisis.
While some donors continue to support Afghanistan’s health sector, funding has been significantly reduced as development aid priorities have shifted. The needs, however, remain immense, and current support is not enough to sustain critical healthcare services for millions of Afghans.
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