Topline
Donors withdrawing money from Afghanistan’s largest health program have sent the country’s healthcare system to “the brink of collapse,” the head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday, as Covid-19 hospitals close, vaccinations sit unused and basic medical care is rationed among its facilities that are still open.
Key Facts
Fewer than one in five healthcare facilities belonging to Sehatmandi, the main healthcare provider in Afghanistan, are now open, according to WHO.
Without funding, the country “faces an imminent humanitarian catastrophe,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director-general, said in a statement following a visit to the country.
Nine of the country’s 37 Covid-19 hospitals have closed, and 1.8 million Covid-19 vaccines have not been used in a country where just 2.2 million people have been vaccinated out of a population of about 40 million.
Measles outbreaks are also spreading, Tedros said, and the country risks the spread of polio—it is one of two countries that still see cases—if Sehatmandi’s broader vaccination program doesn’t have the money to buy supplies or pay staff.
Crucial Quote
“Thousands of health facilities,” Tedros said, have been left “without funding for medical supplies and salaries for health staff. Many of these facilities have now reduced operations or shut down, forcing health providers to make hard decisions on who to save and who to let die.”
Key Background
Sehatmandi is “the backbone of Afghanistan’s health system,” WHO said in an email to Forbes, and has more than 2,300 locations.The program is run by the World Bank and includes funding from the bank as well as the European Union and the U.S. All three have withheld aid since August, when the Taliban overthrew the Western-backed government, the BBC reported. The World Bank said about 40% of Afghanistan’s economy came from foreign aid, giving the U.S. and other donors leverage to make sure the Taliban follow through on their promises, including letting girls and women return to school and work.
What To Watch For
Tedros said that “with access to all communities no longer impeded,” WHO and others are planning a national door-to-door vaccination campaign for Covid-19, measles and polio. He did not mention if the campaign was waiting on the restoration of funding to Sehatmandi.
Taliban rule presents aid agencies with moral, fiscal dilemma (Reuters)
Afghanistan's economy in crisis after Taliban take-over (BBC)
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