Afghanistan Peace CampaignAfghanistan Analysts Network
Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the country’s healthcare system shrank in terms of both the number of functioning health facilities and medical personnel. At its peak in the late 2010s, the system had comprised more than 3,000 health facilities. By 2024, this number had halved, with just over 1,500 still functioning. Since US President Donald Trump’s sudden order to stop US foreign aid on 20 January 2025, as of 18 March, an additional 206 health facilities have suspended their operations (ReliefWeb) Since 2021, the healthcare workforce shrank as some medical professionals left during the 2021 exodus of better qualified or better connected Afghans and as donors withdrew their on-budget support for the new authorities in Kabul.
The limited availability of health facilities across the country, coupled with staff shortages – particularly specialist doctors and female health workers – forces women to travel long distances in search of basic health services. In the midst of the ongoing economic crisis, families also have to find the financial resources to journey to distant provincial centres or even the capital to seek medical treatment.
In this context, a series of prohibitions targeting women promulgated by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) since it re-took power in August 2021 has made independent travel difficult, and in some areas, impossible, especially over long distances. In particular, a ban instituted in December 2021 on women and girls travelling “long distances” without a mahram (a close male relative) is often implemented to women travelling independently at all. Along with several related restrictions that followed in 2022, easy access to healthcare for women has been rendered nearly impossible. These systematic prohibitions, coupled with traditional social barriers, have fostered a climate of fear and oppression, severely restricting women’s autonomy.
A headcount of how many Afghans accessed healthcare services in 2024 suggests that a deteriorating public health system, coupled with severe restrictions and an ongoing economic crisis, has resulted in only 4.1 million out of approximately 15 million Afghan women – less than a third – being able to access healthcare and that of those, most were accessing reproductive and maternal health-related services (ReliefWeb). That represented a decline: in 2023, about 4.55 million Afghan women accessed health services (UNOCHA).
The life expectancy for Afghan women has decreased in recent years. Not only are they living shorter lives, but they are spending fewer years in good health, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) data. In 2021, life expectancy at birth for women fell to 61 years, down from 63.2 in 2019 (WHO), while the healthy life expectancy for women dropped to 51.3 years in 2021, down from 52.8 years in 2019 (WHO).
The available data paints a grim picture concerning Afghan women’s well-being, yet rarely do we hear from women directly on this issue. Recognising this gap, our research aims to shed light on the situation by amplifying the voices of Afghan women. We interviewed 22 women living in rural areas across 19 provinces to gather their perspectives on the healthcare services available in their regions and their ability to access them.
This report offers first-hand accounts of what it means to be a woman seeking healthcare in rural Afghanistan today. It opens with two brief overviews based on desk research: the first is of the healthcare system in Afghanistan until August 2021 and the second is about the state of the healthcare system since the re-establishment of the Emirate. The research findings, which include extensive quotes from our interviewees, constitute the central and main part of the report.
Edited by Roxanna Shapour and Kate Clark
You can preview the report online and download it by clicking here or the download button below.