Afghanistan Peace Campaign
The United Nations has warned that funding shortages are forcing health facilities and nutrition centres across Afghanistan to reduce services or close, leaving millions of vulnerable people with limited access to essential care.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said people in remote areas are particularly affected, with some forced to travel long and dangerous distances to reach medical services.
“Urgent health needs cannot wait for funding,” OCHA said, calling for sustained financial support to keep essential healthcare services available close to the communities that need them.
The warning comes as Afghanistan faces a worsening food insecurity and malnutrition crisis. Around one-third of nutrition sites across the country have closed or suspended services, largely because of funding cuts, according to OCHA.
More than four million children aged between six months and five years are projected to need treatment for acute malnutrition in 2027, including approximately 1.1 million who are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition, OCHA spokesperson Olga Cherevko said at a UN briefing on October 20.
The figures are supported by a recent assessment from UNICEF and Action Against Hunger, which projected that 4.04 million children under five would require treatment for acute malnutrition next year , the highest level recorded in five years. Nearly three million are expected to suffer from moderate acute malnutrition.
The food crisis is also expected to worsen during the coming winter. OCHA said 15.9 million people, nearly one-third of Afghanistan’s population, faced crisis-level food insecurity or worse between September and October. That number is projected to rise to 19.2 million between November 2026 and April 2027, including five million people facing emergency levels of hunger.
The closure of healthcare facilities has further weakened access to treatment, particularly in rural and underserved areas. The World Health Organization reported that at least 422 primary healthcare facilities, including mobile health and nutrition teams, closed during 2025 because of funding shortfalls, affecting an estimated 3.3 million people.
OCHA has requested $1.7 billion to provide humanitarian assistance to 17.5 million vulnerable people in Afghanistan in 2026. However, only slightly more than one-third of the required funding has been secured, according to the latest figures cited by the agency.
The funding gap has forced aid organisations to scale back operations and prioritise assistance, despite growing needs. Humanitarian agencies have warned that further reductions could disrupt life-saving treatment for malnourished children and leave families without access to basic healthcare.
Afghanistan remains heavily dependent on international assistance, while economic hardship, drought, disease outbreaks and large-scale returns from neighbouring countries continue to put pressure on already fragile public services.
OCHA has urged donors to provide predictable and sustained funding, warning that keeping health and nutrition services accessible is essential to preventing further deterioration in the humanitarian situation.