WHO Warning: 80% of Essential Health Services in Afghanistan to Shut Down Due to Budget Shortage
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that, due to a severe budget cut, around 80% of essential healthcare services supported by the organization in Afghanistan will be shut down.
In a statement, the WHO said that by March 4, 2025, 167 healthcare centers in 25 provinces will have closed due to the lack of funding, affecting access to vital services for 1.6 million people.
The statement further warned that without immediate intervention, more than 220 additional centers will close by June 2025, leaving another 1.8 million people without access to primary healthcare.
According to WHO, the majority of closures are happening in the northern, western, and northeastern regions of the country, where over a third of the centers have closed. The organization has raised an alarm about an imminent humanitarian crisis.
The UN health agency emphasized that millions of people, including women, children, the elderly, refugees, and returnees, are losing access to essential services such as safe childbirth, vaccinations, and treatment for deadly diseases.
Dr. Edwin Seneza Salvador, WHO’s representative in Afghanistan, is quoted in the statement saying: “These figures are not just numbers; they represent mothers whose lives are at risk, children who are not getting vaccinated, and communities left vulnerable to diseases.”
The WHO also warned that Afghanistan is currently battling widespread outbreaks of measles, malaria, dengue fever, polio, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever.
The organization reported that in the first two months of 2025, more than 16,000 suspected measles cases have been recorded, with 111 deaths. The low vaccination rate is a major reason for children being at risk of preventable diseases, and WHO has warned that the closure of health centers has made it nearly impossible to control these outbreaks.
WHO further stated that despite continued support from some donors for Afghanistan’s health sector, the needs far exceed available resources. Coordination mechanisms have been disrupted, and health partners are unable to track disease outbreaks or allocate necessary resources.
U.S. aid, which was previously the largest funding source for Afghanistan’s health sector, was halted after the Trump administration came to power. This suspension has led to the closure of numerous humanitarian institutions.
The UN Special Representative in Afghanistan, Rosa Otunbayeva, warned in a recent Security Council meeting that budget cuts are having catastrophic effects on the people of Afghanistan, with more than 200 health centers closing last month. She also mentioned that services for treating child malnutrition have been severely limited.
Additionally, Save the Children announced that 18 healthcare centers under its support have been shut down due to funding cuts, and another 14 centers will remain without financial support within a month.
