Kabul: The World Health Organization said on Monday that 80% of the services it supports in Afghanistan could close until June due to lack of funding.
The UN Health Service said that the cash deficit, which comes amid huge US aid cuts, is linked to the shift of “development assistance priorities”.
“Without emergency intervention, more than 220 more facilities could close by June 2025, leaving an additional 1.8 million Afghans without access to primary health care,” he said in a statement.
The Agency said that 167 such companies have already been closed due to lack of financial support.
“The consequences will be measured in lost lives,” said Afghanistan leader Edwin Ceniza Salvador.
“This is not just funding. It is a humanitarian emergency that threatens to overturn the years of progress in boosting Afghanistan’s health system,” Salvador added.
He has heard the alarm since US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the Organization.
This withdrawal and the end of Washington’s contributions are jeopardizing the global measles monitoring network, which has so far been funded by Washington entirely.
Afghanistan saw more than 16,000 suspicious cases of measles and 111 deaths in January and February, according to WHO.
The figures are disputed by the Taliban authorities, who returned to power in 2021 with the disappearance of the US -backed government.
The Taliban government is not internationally recognized and is largely based on NGOs, United Nations services, and donors to maintain the health system in life.
Multiple Emergency Situations for Health
Who stated that Afghanistan also faces “multiple health emergency situations”, including malaria restaurants and dengue fever.
There are constant efforts to vaccinate several children to eliminate polio, which remains endemic only in two countries: Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.
The lack of funds has also hit Save the Children, which reported 18 health facilities supported by the Charity Foundation last week and its partners have closed.
“Only 14 Save the Children Clinics have enough funding to stay open for another month and without new financial support will be forced to close. These 32 clinics are supported by more than 134,000 children only in January,” charity said.
In addition, Afghanistan suffers from one of the highest ratios of maternal mortality in the world 638 per 100,000 living births.
This is likely to deteriorate due to US funding cuts, with the United Nations prediction for an additional 1,200 motherboard deaths from now until 2028.
Malnutrition is also widespread in the country, which is facing economic, humanitarian and climate crises after being mistreated by four decades of war.
10% of children under the age of five are malnourished and 45% are immobilized, the UN says.
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