Taliban Prevent Female Doctors from Reaching Earthquake Victims
Female doctors in eastern Afghanistan have been blocked by the Taliban from providing medical care to women injured in last night’s deadly earthquake. The quake struck Kunar, Nangarhar, Laghman, and Nuristan provinces, killing at least 800 people and injuring more than 2,500, mostly women and children.
Doctors told R.M. Media that they had planned to travel to Dara Noor district in Nangarhar and to Kunar province to treat female victims of the disaster. However, the Taliban denied them permission and issued threats.
One female doctor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said she and six other women—including midwives, nurses, and specialist doctors—intended to provide medical care in Dara Noor and later in Kunar.
"When we requested an ambulance from the provincial health department, we were denied permission and even threatened not to go," she said. "They claimed it would violate the law of ‘Vice and Virtue’ and told us to stay home. This response left us deeply discouraged."
Another female doctor said that health centers in Kunar and Nangarhar are now facing a severe shortage of female medical staff. She warned that without women doctors, male colleagues struggle to treat female patients effectively.
She added that many pregnant women in these areas, unable to access healthcare and affected by repeated aftershocks, have delivered prematurely, resulting in the loss of their infants.
The doctor called on the Taliban to learn from this tragedy and to reopen schools and universities for girls. "Women must be allowed to study, become doctors, and determine their own futures," she said.
Other sources confirmed that, as in the past, very few female doctors are currently working in health facilities, leaving many patients without timely care.
