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How aid cuts have brought Afghanistan’s fragile health system to its knees

Special How aid cuts have brought Afghanistan’s fragile health system to its knees
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Funding shortages resulting from foreign aid cuts have already forced scores of health facilities across Afghanistan to reduce services or close altogether, with the most vulnerable bearing the brunt, according to the WHO. (AFP file)
Special How aid cuts have brought Afghanistan’s fragile health system to its knees
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This photo taken on July 21, 2022 shows guardians sitting next to children in the malnutrition ward at the Boost Hospital, run by Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF), in Lashkar Gah, Helmand. (AFP)
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Updated 06 April 2025

How aid cuts have brought Afghanistan’s fragile health system to its knees

How aid cuts have brought Afghanistan’s fragile health system to its knees
  • Forty percent of the foreign aid given to Afghanistan came from USAID prior to the agency’s shutdown
  • Experts say pregnant women, children, and the displaced will be hardest hit by the abrupt loss of funding

LONDON: Amid sweeping foreign aid cuts, Afghanistan’s healthcare system has been left teetering on the brink of collapse, with 80 percent of World Health Organization-supported services projected to shut down by June, threatening critical medical access for millions.

The abrupt closure of the US Agency for International Development, which once provided more than 40 percent of all humanitarian assistance to the impoverished nation of 40 million, dealt a devastating blow to an already fragile health system.




Supporters of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) rally outside the US Capitol on February 05, 2025 in Washington, DC, to protest the Trump Administration's sudden closure of the agency. (AFP)

Researcher and public health expert Dr. Shafiq Mirzazada said that while it was too early to declare Afghanistan’s health system was in a state of collapse, the consequences of the aid cuts would be severe for “the entire population.”

“WHO funding is only one part of the system,” he told Arab News, pointing out that Afghanistan’s health sector is fully funded by donors through the Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund, known as the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund before August 2021.

Established in 2002 after the US-led invasion, the ARTF supports international development in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban retook Kabul in August 2021, the fund has focused on providing essential services through UN agencies and nongovernmental organizations




Funding shortages resulting from foreign aid cuts have already forced scores of health facilities across Afghanistan to reduce services or close altogether, with the most vulnerable bearing the brunt, according to the WHO. (AFP file)

However, this approach has struggled to meet the growing needs, as donor fatigue and political challenges compound funding shortages.

“A significant portion of the funding goes to health programs through UNICEF and WHO,” Mirzazada said, referring to the UN children’s fund. “Primarily UNICEF channels funds through the Health Emergency Response project.”

Yet even those efforts have proven insufficient as facilities close at an alarming rate.

By early March, funding shortages forced 167 health facilities to close across 25 provinces, depriving 1.6 million people of care, according to the WHO.

Without urgent intervention, experts say 220 more facilities could close by June, leaving a further 1.8 million Afghans without primary care — particularly in northern, western and northeastern regions.

The closures are not just logistical setbacks, they represent life-or-death outcomes for millions.

“The consequences will be measured in lives lost,” Edwin Ceniza Salvador, the WHO’s representative in Afghanistan, said in a statement.




Dr. Edwin Ceniza Salvador,World Health Organization's representative in Afghanistan. (Supplied)

“These closures are not just numbers on a report. They represent mothers unable to give birth safely, children missing lifesaving vaccinations, entire communities left without protection from deadly disease outbreaks.”

Bearing the brunt of Afghanistan’s healthcare crisis are the most vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, children in need of vaccinations and those living in overcrowded displacement camps, where they are exposed to infectious and vaccine-preventable diseases.




This photograph taken on January 9, 2024 shows Afghan women and children refugees deported from Pakistan, in a nutrition ward at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees camp on the outskirts of Kabul. (AFP)

Because Afghanistan’s health system was heavily focused on maternal and child care, Mirzazada said: “Any disruption will primarily affect women and children — including, but not limited to, vaccine-preventable diseases, as well as antenatal, delivery and postnatal services.

“We’re already seeing challenges, with outbreaks of measles in the country. The number of deaths due to measles is rising.”

This trend will be exacerbated by declining immunization rates.




A health worker administers polio vaccine drops to a child during a vaccination campaign in the old quarters of Kabul on November 8, 2021. (AFP)

“Children will face more diseases as vaccine coverage continues to decline,” Mirzazada said.

“We can already see a reduction in vaccine coverage. The Afghanistan Health Survey 2018 showed basic vaccine coverage at 51.4 percent, while the recent UNICEF-led Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey shows it has dropped to 36.6 percent in 2022-23.”

IN NUMBERS:

14.3 millionAfghans in need of medical assistance

$126.7 millionFunding needed for healthcare

•22.9 million Afghans requiring urgent aid to access healthcare, food and clean water.

The WHO recorded more than 16,000 suspected measles cases, including 111 deaths, in the first two months of 2025 alone.

It warned that with immunization rates critically low — 51 percent for the first dose of the measles vaccine and 37 percent for the second — children were at heightened risk of preventable illness and death.

Meanwhile, midwives have reported dire conditions in the nation’s remaining facilities. Women in labor are arriving too late for lifesaving interventions due to clinic closures.

Women and girls are disproportionately bearing the brunt of these health challenges in great part due to Taliban policies.

Restrictions on women’s freedom of movement and employment have severely limited health access, while bans on education for women and girls have all but eliminated training for future female health workers.

In December, the Taliban closed all midwifery and nursing schools.

Wahid Majrooh, founder of the Afghanistan Center for Health and Peace Studies, said the move “threatens the capacity of Afghanistan’s already fragile health system” and violated international human rights commitments.

He wrote in the Lancet Global Health journal that “if left unaddressed, this restriction could set precedence for other fragile settings in which women’s rights are compromised.”




This picture taken on October 6, 2021 shows a midwife (L) and a nutrition counsellor weighing a baby at the Tangi Saidan clinic run by the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, in Daymirdad district of Wardak province. (AFP file)

“Afghanistan faces a multifaceted crisis marked by alarming rates of poverty, human rights violations, economic instability and political deadlock, predominantly affecting women and children,” the former Afghan health minister said.

“Women are denied their basic rights to education, work and, to a large extent, access to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The ban on midwifery schools limits women’s access to health, erodes their agency in health institutions and eradicates women role models.”

Majrooh described the ban on midwifery and nursing education as “a public health emergency” that “requires urgent action.”

Afghanistan is facing one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, with 22.9 million people — roughly half its population — requiring urgent aid to access healthcare, food and clean water.

Critical funding shortfalls and operational barriers now jeopardize support for 3.5 million children aged 6 to 59 months facing acute malnutrition, according to UN figures, as aid groups grapple with the intersecting challenges of economic collapse, climate shocks and Taliban restrictions.

The provinces of Kabul, Helmand, Nangarhar, Herat and Kandahar bear the heaviest burden, collectively accounting for 42 percent of the nation’s malnutrition cases. As a result, aid organizations are struggling to meet the needs of malnourished children, with recent cuts in foreign aid forcing Save the Children to suspend lifesaving programs.




As vaccine coverage continues to decline, children will be the most vulnerable to diseases. (ARTF photo)

The UK-based charity has closed 18 health facilities and faces the potential closure of 14 more unless new funding is secured. These 32 clinics provided critical care to 134,000 children in January alone, including therapeutic feeding and immunizations, it said in a statement.

“With more children in need of aid than ever before, cutting off lifesaving support now is like trying to extinguish a wildfire with a hose that’s running out of water,” Gabriella Waaijman, chief operating officer at Save the Children International, said.

As well as the hunger crisis, Afghanistan is battling outbreaks of malaria, measles, dengue, polio and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. The WHO said that without functioning health facilities, efforts to control these diseases would be severely hindered.




Afghan refugees along with their belongings arrive on trucks from Pakistan, near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province on November 20, 2023. (AFP)

The risk may be higher among internally displaced communities. Four decades of conflict have driven repeated waves of forced displacement, both within Afghanistan and across its borders, while recurring natural disasters have worsened the crisis.

About 6.3 million people remain displaced within the country, living in precarious conditions without access to adequate shelter or essential services, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

Mass deportations have compounded the crisis. More than 1.2 million Afghans returning from neighboring countries such as Pakistan in 2024 are now crowded into makeshift camps with poor sanitation. This had fueled outbreaks of measles, acute watery diarrhea, dengue fever and malaria, the UNHCR said in October.




Afghan refugees along with their belongings sit beside the trucks at a registration centre, upon their arrival from Pakistan in Takhta Pul district of Kandahar province on Dec. 18, 2023. (AFP)

With limited healthcare access, other diseases are also spreading rapidly.

Respiratory infections and COVID-19 are surging among returnees, with 293 suspected cases detected at border crossings in early 2025, according to the WHO’s February Emergency Situation Report.

Cases of acute respiratory infections, including pneumonia, have also risen, with 54 cases reported, primarily in children under the age of 5.




Afghan boys sit with their winter kits from UNICEF at Fayzabad in Badakhshan province on February 25, 2024. (AFP)

The WHO said that returnees settling in remote areas faced “healthcare deserts,” where clinics had been shuttered for years and where there were no aid pipelines.

Water scarcity in 30 provinces exacerbates acute watery diarrhea risks, while explosive ordnance contamination and road accidents cause trauma cases that overwhelm understaffed facilities.




This photo taken on July 21, 2022 shows people outside the Boost Hospital, run by Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF), in Lashkar Gah, Helmand. (AFP)

Mirzazada said that “while the ARTF has some funds, they won’t be enough to sustain the system long term.”

To prevent the collapse of Afghanistan’s health system and keep services running, he urged the country’s Taliban authorities to contribute to its funding.

“Government contributions have been very limited in the past and now even more so,” he said.




In this photo taken on June 3, 2021, Qari Hafizullah Hamdan (2nd L), health official for the Qarabagh district, visits patients at a hospital in the Andar district of Ghazni province. Taliban authorities had been urged to contribute to the ARTF to prevent a collapse of the country's health care system.(AFP File)

“However, the recently developed health policy for Afghanistan mentions internally sourced funding for the health system. If that happens under the current or future authorities, it could help prevent collapse.”

He also called on Islamic and Arab nations to increase their funding efforts.

“Historically, Western countries have been the main funders of the ARTF,” Mirzazada said. “The largest contributors were the US, Germany, the European Commission and other Western nations.

“Islamic and Arab countries have contributed very little. That could change and still be channeled through the UN system, as NGOs continue to deliver services on behalf of donors and the government.

“This approach could remain in place until a solid, internally funded health system is established.”


BRICS leaders denounce protectionism, tariff ‘blackmail’

BRICS leaders denounce protectionism, tariff ‘blackmail’
Updated 11 sec ago

BRICS leaders denounce protectionism, tariff ‘blackmail’

BRICS leaders denounce protectionism, tariff ‘blackmail’
  • Trump is punishing Brazil for what he calls a ‘witch hunt’ against his right-wing ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro
  • Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also used the summit to denounce a US military build-up in the Caribbean
BRASILIA: Leaders of the 11-member BRICS bloc railed against economic protectionism and “tariff blackmail” during a virtual meeting Monday held amid a damaging trade war with US President Donald Trump.
The group of emerging economies met via videoconference at the initiative of Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose office said it was necessary to address the “intensification of unilateral measures.”
The BRICS represents nearly 40 percent of global GDP and almost half of the world’s population.
Its members are among those hardest hit by what Lula referred to Monday as “tariff blackmail” and “unjustified and illegal” trade practices.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, for his part, called for the upholding of “the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core” and for rejection of “all forms of protectionism.”
Tensions between the United States and China, the world’s two biggest economies, resulted in tit-for-tat duties that reached triple digits earlier this year before being lowered again.
In Brazil’s case, Trump slapped his highest level of trade tariff — 50 percent — on a range of goods from Latin America’s biggest economy.
Trump is punishing Brazil for what he calls a “witch hunt” against his right-wing ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro who is on trial for allegedly plotting a coup to take power back from Lula after losing 2022 elections.
A verdict in the trial is expected this week.
“Tariff blackmail is being normalized as an instrument to conquer markets and interfere in domestic affairs,” Lula said Monday.

Washington also imposed tariffs of up to 50 percent on Indian imports, accusing New Delhi of fueling Moscow’s deadly attacks on Ukraine by purchasing Russian oil.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told the BRICS summit the world needed sustainable trade, adding that “increasing barriers and complicating transactions will not help.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin also took part in the virtual meeting days after gathering with Xi, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and India’s Narendra Modi in China, where regional leaders slammed America’s “bullying behavior.”
Trump hit South Africa, engaged in a spat with Washington over a range of domestic and international policies, with a 30 percent tariff — the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.
Trump, who has repeatedly cited debunked claims of a “genocide” of white South Africans, will not attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg later this year.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, in a prepared speech, told BRICS counterparts that “unilateral tariff actions are contributing to an increasingly protectionist environment which poses great hardships and danger for the countries of the Global South.”
In July, Trump lashed out at the BRICS and threatened its members with additional export duties after they voiced concern that his trade war was putting the global economy at risk.
“We must remain steadfast in promoting the building of an open global economy, sharing opportunities and achieving win-win results through openness,” Xi underscored Monday.
Other BRICS members are Indonesia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, ֱ and the United Arab Emirates.
Lula also used the summit to denounce a US military build-up in the Caribbean, which he said added “a factor of tension.”
Washington has deployed warships and aircraft in what it labeled an anti-drug operation, and blew up an alleged narco boat, killing 11 people and raising fears in Venezuela of an invasion.

Swiss medics start hunger protest over Gaza outside parliament

Swiss medics start hunger protest  over Gaza outside parliament
Updated 08 September 2025

Swiss medics start hunger protest over Gaza outside parliament

Swiss medics start hunger protest  over Gaza outside parliament
  • We can say the Swiss government is currently silent, inactive, I would say fairly cowardly, and is very lacking in courage

BERN: Swiss medics began a hunger protest outside parliament on Monday over the war in Gaza, pressing Bern to take a more critical stance on Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian enclave.
Switzerland has condemned some Israeli actions in the conflict, such as an attack on a hospital last month, but has held back from stronger steps sought by the protesters, such as imposing sanctions on Israel or recognizing a Palestinian state.
Medics have signed up to protest outside parliament in pairs wearing stethoscopes and medical tunics splashed with fake blood, taking turns in 24-hour fasts in a relay system throughout the September parliamentary session.
“A white tunic used to protect you. Today, if you want to save your life, you take it off, and that’s intolerable, and it’s intolerable we’re not reacting to that,” said Prof. Pietro Majno-Hurst, a surgeon and member of the Swiss Healthcare Workers Against Genocide.
The protest follows actions in Swiss universities and other demonstrations over the weekend as famine strikes parts of Gaza.
“We can say the government is currently silent, inactive, I would say fairly cowardly, and is very lacking in courage. And I think today, it’s time for a change,” said Professor Karl Blanchet, director of the Geneva Center of Humanitarian Studies, who is part of the protest.
Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Nicolas Bideau said Switzerland was “deeply concerned” by the humanitarian situation in Gaza and repeated calls for a ceasefire and for respect of international humanitarian law.
“The Federal Council believes that the recognition of a Palestinian state is part of the prospect of lasting peace based on the two-state solution,” he added.
Switzerland, which has close ties with Israel but a tradition of neutrality, has matched EU sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, prompting accusations of double standards by some critics.
Bideau said that Switzerland does not have legal autonomy on sanctions policy and can only match those of the UN or major trading partners, which have so far refrained from imposing sanctions over the Gaza war.
Two Swiss citizens were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel that triggered the Gaza war. 

 


Heathrow terminal to reopen after ‘possible hazardous materials incident’

 Passengers walk from Terminal 4 of Heathrow Airport on September 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Passengers walk from Terminal 4 of Heathrow Airport on September 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Updated 57 min 41 sec ago

Heathrow terminal to reopen after ‘possible hazardous materials incident’

 Passengers walk from Terminal 4 of Heathrow Airport on September 8, 2025. (Reuters)
  • “Around 20 people have been assessed on scene by paramedics from the London Ambulance Service,” the fire brigade said

LONDON: Heathrow’s Terminal 4 “was safe to reopen,” the airport operator said Monday evening a few hours after its check-in area was temporarily closed and evacuated over a “possible hazardous materials incident.”
“Emergency services have confirmed Terminal 4 is safe to reopen and we are doing everything we can to ensure all flights to depart as planned today,” the operator of UK’s main international airport said on social media.
The London Fire Brigade said it was standing down operations around three hours after it was called to respond to a “possible hazardous materials incident” at the terminal part of one of the world’s busiest air hubs.
“Around 20 people have been assessed on scene by paramedics from the London Ambulance Service,” the fire brigade said, adding the cause of the incident “remains under investigation.”
“We are very sorry for the disruption caused, the safety and security of our passengers and colleagues is our number one priority,” the airport added.
It said other terminals had been operating as normal through the incident.


Maduro deploys 25,000 troops to Venezuela borders

Maduro deploys 25,000 troops to Venezuela borders
Updated 08 September 2025

Maduro deploys 25,000 troops to Venezuela borders

Maduro deploys 25,000 troops to Venezuela borders
  • The move comes amid soaring tensions with US President Donald Trump
  • Troops were deployed to the northeast coast, home to Venezuela’s biggest oil refineries

CARACAS: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he had deployed 25,000 troops along the Caribbean coast and the border with Colombia amid soaring tensions with US President Donald Trump.
In a message Sunday night on social media Maduro said he had deployed “25,000 men and women from our glorious National Bolivarian Armed Forces” to the frontier with Colombia and the northeast coast, where the country’s biggest oil refineries are situated.
The deployment aimed to ensure “the defense of national sovereignty, the security of the country and the fight for peace,” he added.
He did not expressly refer to Trump, who has cited the need to combat Venezuelan drug traffickers particularly in ordering the biggest naval buildup in the Caribbean in years.
Last week US forces blew up a suspected drug boat with 11 people aboard in the Caribbean.
Trump said the boat belonged to the Venezuelan crime gang Tren de Aragua but provided scant proof of the claim.
The US leader has also threatened to shoot down Venezuelan military jets if they endanger US forces after two Venezuelan planes flew near a US Navy vessel in international waters.
Venezuela’s armed forces run to around 123,000 members, according to military sources.
Maduro claims a further 220,000 people have enlisted in a civilian militia.


French PM ousted in parliament confidence vote

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou addresses the National Assembly, prior to a parliamentary confidence vote.
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou addresses the National Assembly, prior to a parliamentary confidence vote.
Updated 08 September 2025

French PM ousted in parliament confidence vote

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou addresses the National Assembly, prior to a parliamentary confidence vote.
  • Bayrou’s ousting leaves Macron with a new domestic headache at a time when he is leading diplomatic efforts on the Ukraine war

PARIS: France’s parliament on Monday ousted the government of Prime Minister Francois Bayrou after just nine months in office, leaving President Emmanuel Macron scrambling to find a successor and plunging the country into a new political crisis.
Bayrou, who has been in the job for just nine months, had blindsided even his allies by calling a confidence vote to end a lengthy standoff over his austerity budget, which foresees almost 44 billion euros ($52 billion) of cost savings to reduce France’s debt pile.
Bayrou, the first premier in the history of modern France to be ousted in a confidence vote rather than a no-confidence vote, will submit his resignation on Tuesday morning, according to a person close to him who asked not to be named.
In the vote in the National Assembly, 364 deputies voted that they had no confidence in the government while just 194 gave it their confidence. “In line with article 50 of the constitution, the prime minister must submit the resignation of his government,” said speaker Yael Braun-Pivet.
Bayrou is the sixth prime minister under Macron since his 2017 election but the fifth since 2022. Bayrou’s ousting leaves the French head of state with a new domestic headache at a time when he is leading diplomatic efforts on the Ukraine war.
But defending his decision to call the high-risk confidence vote, Bayrou told the National Assembly: “The biggest risk was not to take one, to let things continue without anything changing... and have business as usual.”
Describing the debt pile as “life-threatening” for France, Bayrou said his government had put forward a plan so that the country could “in a few years’ time escape the inexorable tide of debt that is submerging it.”
“You have the power to overthrow the government” but not “to erase reality,” Bayrou told the MPs in a doomed final bid to save his government before the vote.

Macron now faces one of the most critical decisions of his presidency — appoint a seventh prime minister to try to thrash out a compromise, or call snap elections in a bid to have a more accommodating parliament.
There is no guarantee an election would result in any improvement in the fortunes of Macron’s center-right bloc in parliament.
And although the Socialist Party (PS) has expressed readiness to lead a new government, it is far from clear whether such an administration could survive.
Heavyweight right-wing cabinet ministers, such as Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, are trusted by Macron but risk being voted out by the left.
According to a poll by Odoxa-Backbone for Le Figaro newspaper, 64 percent of the French want Macron to resign rather than name a new prime minister, a move he has ruled out.
He is forbidden from standing for a third term in 2027.
Around 77 percent of people do not approve of his work, Macron’s worst-ever such rating, according to an Ifop poll for the Ouest-France daily.

Alongside political upheaval, France is also facing social tensions.
A left-wing collective named “Block Everything” is calling for a day of action on Wednesday, and trade unions have urged workers to strike on September 18.
The 2027 presidential election meanwhile remains wide open, with analysts predicting the French far right will have its best-ever chance of winning.
Three-time presidential candidate for the National Rally (RN) Marine Le Pen suffered a blow in March when a French court convicted her and other party officials over an EU parliament fake jobs scam.
Le Pen was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, two of which were suspended, and a fine of 100,000 euros ($117,000).
The ruling also banned her from standing for office for five years, which would scupper her ambition of taking part in the 2027 vote unless overturned on appeal.
But a Paris court said Monday her appeal would be heard from January 13 to February 12, 2026, well before the election — potentially resurrecting her presidential hopes.
Cheered by her MPs, Le Pen urged Macron to call snap legislative elections, saying holding the polls is “not an option but an obligation” and describing Bayrou’s administration as a “phantom government.”