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Eighty percent of WHO-supported facilities in Afghanistan risk shutdown by June
17 March 2025, Kabul, Afghanistan – The World Health Organization (WHO) in Afghanistan is deeply concerned that funding shortages could force the closure of 80% of WHO-supported essential health care services. Millions, including vulnerable populations such as women, children, the elderly, the displaced and returnees, will be left without access to...
Afghanistan’s new National Health Policy (2025–2030): a roadmap to a healthier future
12 March 2025, Kabul, Afghanistan – In a landmark step towards strengthening Afghanistan’s health care system, the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) and World Health Organization (WHO) in Afghanistan, in collaboration with national health partners, have launched the National Health Policy (NHP) 2025–2030. The Policy encapsulates a new vision...
In Afghanistan recovery from addiction means a new chance at life
A social counselor at the DATC visits Nargis and her new baby. Photo credit: WHO Afghanistan 6 March 2025, Kabul, Afghanistan – Nargis, 26,* grew up in Guzara district, Herat province, where poverty shaped much of her childhood. At 15, she married a much older man and soon gave birth to her first son, Jawid. She had hoped motherhood would bring...
WHO maintains lifesaving health care services in Afghanistan with the support of Japan
19 February 2025, Kabul, Afghanistan – The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes the generous contribution of US$ 500 000 from the Government of Japan to strengthen essential health care services for vulnerable populations, particularly women and children, during Afgfhanistan's ongoing humanitarian crisis. Afghanistan continues to grapple with...
The struggle to access cancer care in Afghanistan
Patients in the outpatient chemotherapy ward undergoing chemotherapy. Photo credit: WHO 11 February 2025, Kabul, Afghanistan – In the remote mountains of Afghanistan, where the air is thin and the roads treacherous, a silent battle is being fought against an invisible enemy – cancer. For many people living in outreach areas, the journey to the...
WHO-supported health facility in Ghor province makes childbirth safer for mothers
21 January 2025, Kabul, Afghanistan – In the rugged beauty of Ghor province, western Afghanistan, lies a story of hope and transformation. For 24-year-old Gul Chehra, who lives in a remote village in Shahrak district, motherhood once meant fear and uncertainty. The isolation of her village, tucked amid snow-capped mountains and accessible only by a...
UN Envoy to Afghanistan visits the Women and Children Drug Treatment Centre in Kabul
Assistant Secretary-General for Support Operations Lisa M Buttenheim is welcomed by children presenting flowers on her arrival at the Women and Children Drug Treatment Centre in Kabul, 7 December 2024. Photo: WHO Afghanistan 22 December 2024, Kabul, Afghanistan – Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Afghanistan Rosa...
First contact health workers improve survival rates in Afghanistan with basic emergency care skills
20 November 2024, Kabul, Afghanistan – Since the introduction of the basic emergency care (BEC) course in Afghanistan in December 2021, WHO has provided 18 rounds of BEC training to a total of 800 first contact health workers, including 333 women, who care for patients with acute illness or injury. By adopting a systematic approach to the initial...
Basic emergency care training boosts the confidence of frontline health workers in Afghanistan
20 November 2024, Kabul, Afghanistan – In response to gaps in standardized trauma management in western Afghanistan, the World Health Organization (WHO) trained 48 first contact health care workers, half of them women, in basic emergency care (BEC) in Herat province. Since January 2024, WHO has trained 339 health workers in BEC, 154 of them...
ISAM 2024 Congress: WHO Afghanistan and the EU present collaborative efforts to address drug use disorders
18 September 2024 — WHO Afghanistan, in partnership with the European Union (EU), took part in the 26th World Congress of the International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM). The Congress was held in Istanbul, Türkiye between 5–8 September 2024. Under the theme Building Bridges: Addiction and Recovery, it provided a platform for WHO...
