KABUL: Following deadly earthquake in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday night, local residents said that shortage of female doctors in healthcare facilities has become a serious challenge for treating affected women. Kunar is a remote province that has historically faced cultural restrictions and educational taboos for women, leading to a limited number of female doctors. Local sources emphasize that lack of medical personnel to treat women is evident, and the actual casualty figures are higher than reported by the media. Several pregnant women who experienced premature labor have died due to the shortage of female doctors, and others have lost their newborns. Due to lack of midwives and female doctors, some families have been forced to transfer injured women to hospitals in Nangarhar, with reports indicating that some have died en route. Some female doctors from Nangarhar had formed a volunteer team to travel to Kunar, but the Taliban’s Health Directorate in Nangarhar prevented this trip, citing issues raised by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Previously, Taliban had also blocked the travel of female doctors and aid workers to earthquake-affected areas in Herat, prohibiting treatment by male doctors. The recent earthquake has reportedly resulted in around 1,500 deaths and nearly 4,000 injuries in Kunar, Nangarhar, Laghman, and Nuristan. The Afghanistan Human Rights Defenders Committee, in a statement on Tuesday, described this incident as a test of humanitarian solidarity and shared responsibility. They emphasized that the presence of female doctors and all-female medical teams is essential and cannot be overlooked. The committee also stated that it is time to end gender discrimination, human rights violations, and serious threats to the lives and education of women. Previous reports had indicated that shortage of female doctors has further exacerbated the situation.
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