Conflict and Health · 4 authors, 5 centres
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A survey of 131 Afghan health workers found that since the 2021 Taliban takeover, most reported decreased safety, reduced availability of maternal and child care, and worse conditions for providing care, indicating a severe compromise to health services.
This mixed-methods study used a convenience-sample survey (n=131) and qualitative interviews (n=10) with Afghan health workers to assess perceived changes in maternal and child health care since the Taliban takeover in August 2021. Most respondents were women (80%) in urban areas. Key findings include that 81% of female workers reported feeling unsafe going to and from work due to Taliban harassment without male accompaniment, 42.9% reported a decrease in care availability, and 43.8% stated conditions for providing care were worse. About 30.2% indicated changed conditions negatively impacted their ability to provide quality care, and 26.2% reported an increase in obstetric and newborn complications. The study concludes that the combination of economic collapse, reduced donor support, and Taliban restrictions has severely compromised access to and quality of care. A key limitation is the use of a convenience sample, which limits generalizability; the findings represent the perceptions of participating health workers and require validation through robust surveillance.
