‘Only male doctor available’: After Afghanistan earthquakes, WHO asks Taliban to lift restrictions on female aid workers

The Afghan health ministry and spokesperson for the Taliban administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the news agency mentioned.

A magnitude 6.0 quake and its aftershocks have left more than 3,600 people injured and thousands homeless in a country that is dealing with severe aid cuts and a slew of humanitarian crises since the Taliban took over its administration in 2021.

The urgency of deploying Afghan female health staff post-quake

The Taliban administration in 2022 ordered Afghan female NGO staff to stop working outside their homes. Even though humanitarian officials declared there have been exemptions, particularly in health and education sectors, many said these were patchwork and not sufficient to allow a surge of female staff, particularly in an emergency situation that required travel, Reuters report noted.

While the Taliban has said it respects women’s rights according to its interpretation of Islamic law and have previously said they would ensure women could receive aid, the female staff and aid organisations have continued to face uncertainty, failing to take risks, Sharma said.

“The restrictions are huge, the mahram (male guardian requirements) issue continues and no formal exemption has been provided by the de facto authorities,” she told the news agency, adding her team had raised the issue with the authorities last week.

“That’s why we felt we had to advocate with (authorities) to say, this is the time you really need to have more female health workers present, let us bring them in, and let us search from other places where they’re available.”

As per the report, Sharma also said she was extremely concerned about women in the future being able to access mental health care to deal with trauma as well as for those whose male family members had been killed, leaving them to navigate restrictions on women without a male guardian.

Rise in women’s health concerns post-quake

Peer Gul from Somai district in Kunar province of Afghanistan, said many women from his village had experienced trauma and high blood pressure after the earthquake severely hit the district and were struggling to access medical care.

“There is no female doctor for examinations; only one male doctor is available,” he told Reuters.

Sharma noted the growing shortage of Afghan female doctors as the Taliban have barred female students from high school and university, meaning a pipeline of women doctors was not being replenished.

The UN estimates around 11,600 pregnant women were impacted by the quakes in a country with some of the highest maternal mortality rates in Asia.

Funding cuts, including by the US administration earlier this year, had left the health system reeling. Around 80 health facilities had already closed in the affected areas this year due to US aid cuts, and another 16 health posts had to be shuttered due to damage from the earthquake, Sharma pointed out to Reuters.