Afghanistan Update
MSF has worked in Afghanistan since 1980 and continues to witness the immense humanitarian and healthcare needs facing the population.
While active conflict has decreased in many parts of the country and travel to health facilities is safer in some areas, humanitarian funding for Afghanistan has decreased by 70 per cent. Millions of people still struggle to access essential healthcare, food, clean water and sustainable livelihoods.
Some of MSF’s key activity highlights in Afghanistan during 2025 include:
- 417,395 emergency room consultations
- 53,971 deliveries with 3,213 caesarean sections conducted
- 31,620 measles patients treated
- 9,388 inpatient therapeutic feeding centre admissions, and 3,166 patients enrolled in outpatient feeding programs
- 124 drug-resistant tuberculosis patients enrolled in treatment
MSF runs eight projects in eight provinces, with a particular focus on secondary healthcare, including paediatric and maternal care. Across our projects, we see a healthcare system that is overstretched, under-resourced, and increasingly unable to meet the needs of the population.
Since August 2021, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has issued more than 470 decrees, of which 79 specifically target women and girls, restricting their freedom of movement and their participation in education, employment, the economy and public life.
Excluding women from secondary education and tertiary colleges and universities threatens the future of healthcare in Afghanistan, especially when in women-only clinical spaces, for example maternity and reproductive health services. These constraints will further restrict access to quality healthcare and pose serious risks to its availability in the long term.
Since 2025, international funding for the health sector in Afghanistan has reduced significantly. As a result, access to healthcare services, particularly primary healthcare at the community level, has been severely affected.
“Children are reaching us far too late in the process, and they often present in critical condition with preventable medical complications.”
Ana Lilia Banda, MSF medical coordinator in southern Afghanistan
In addition, between 2023 and 2026, roughly six million Afghans returned from Iran and Pakistan, further straining Afghanistan’s fragile healthcare system.
Thank you for your ongoing care for the people of Afghanistan. Our lifesaving work is only made possible by you.
