KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that 80% of its supported health facilities in Afghanistan could shut down by June due to a severe funding crisis. This would leave millions—including women, children, the elderly, and displaced people—without access to essential medical care.
Since March, 167 health facilities have already closed, cutting off medical services for 1.6 million people across 25 provinces. Without immediate intervention, over 220 more facilities could shut down, affecting another 1.8 million people.
The hardest-hit regions—Northern, Western, and Northeastern Afghanistan—have already seen more than a third of their healthcare centers shut down, raising fears of an escalating humanitarian disaster.
“These closures are not just statistics. They mean mothers unable to give birth safely, children missing life-saving vaccinations, and entire communities left defenceless against deadly diseases,” said Dr. Edwin Ceniza Salvador, WHO Representative in Afghanistan. “The consequences will be measured in lives lost.”
Afghanistan is already grappling with multiple health emergencies, including outbreaks of measles, malaria, dengue, polio, and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever.
In the first two months of 2025 alone, over 16,000 suspected measles cases and 111 deaths were reported. With immunization rates critically low, children remain highly vulnerable to preventable illnesses and death.
Further straining the fragile health system, disruptions to WHO’s disease surveillance and resource allocation efforts are making it harder to contain outbreaks and deliver essential care.
International funding for Afghanistan’s health sector has sharply declined as global aid priorities shift, leaving WHO without the resources needed to sustain critical medical services.
“This is more than a funding shortfall—it’s a full-scale humanitarian crisis that threatens to erase years of progress in Afghanistan’s health system,” Dr. Salvador warned. “Every day without action means more suffering, preventable deaths, and irreversible damage to the country’s healthcare infrastructure.”
