KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – More than 10% of Afghanistan’s population could be deprived of healthcare by the end of this year due to the suspension of US aid, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.
In an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday, WHO’s representative in Afghanistan, Edwin Ceniza Salvador, revealed that the closure of 364 health centers following the US aid cut earlier this year has already left about three million people without healthcare.
Salvador warned that a further 220 centers are at risk of shutting down in the coming months, which would mean more than half of the country’s 1,068 health facilities could be closed.
“This could mean another two or three million people without access to healthcare services,” Salvador said. “When the funding stopped, existing donors tried to step up, but the gap left by the US funding is significant.”
Afghanistan’s healthcare system, already weakened by decades of conflict, struggles with some of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates globally. The UN estimates that 14 million people in the country now require healthcare assistance.
The situation has been exacerbated by the US aid suspension in January and the country’s withdrawal from the WHO, which had previously been Afghanistan’s largest healthcare donor. The UN had earlier warned that as many as nine million people could lose healthcare access due to the funding cuts.
“The system is already very fragile, and whatever remains is coping as best it can,” Salvador said. “It’s only getting worse, and if we do not collectively address the gap, I fear the situation will only deteriorate further.”
Salvador also expressed concern about the potential worsening of outbreaks of diseases like dengue, malaria, tuberculosis, and polio in Afghanistan. While the WHO will continue efforts to vaccinate children, he emphasized that overcoming these challenges would be impossible without sustained international support.
