Afghanistan To Face Healthcare Crisis By The End Of This Year: WHO

Afghanistan is slipping deeper into a humanitarian abyss, with millions at risk of losing access to healthcare amid a dramatic collapse in international aid. With a population of 45 million, the country is now home to the world’s second-largest humanitarian crisis—one that is fast intensifying as global attention shifts elsewhere.

Since the start of 2025, over 364 medical centres have closed, stripping away critical health services from around three million people. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), another 220 clinics are at risk of shuttering by the third quarter of this year—meaning more than half of the country’s 1,068 health centres could vanish entirely.

“That’s maybe another two or three million people who will have no access to healthcare,” warned Edwin Ceniza Salvador, the WHO’s representative in Afghanistan, in an interview with AFP from Kabul.

At the heart of the crisis is a sharp drop in foreign funding—particularly from the United States. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump’s administration dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and began steps to withdraw from the WHO. The move effectively eliminated 83% of US-funded humanitarian programs, gutting support that once sustained large portions of Afghanistan’s health infrastructure.

USAID previously operated with a budget of $42.8 billion, representing 42% of all global humanitarian aid. The vacuum left behind has proven too large for other donors to fill.

“When the funding stopped, the existing donors did try to step up. But the gap is significant,” Salvador said. “The system is already very fragile. Whatever’s left is doing its best—but it’s only getting worse.”

Afghanistan has long faced steep health challenges. Decades of war have ravaged its infrastructure, and the country continues to suffer from some of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world. Now, health experts fear that disease outbreaks—from dengue and malaria to tuberculosis—could surge. Routine immunisations, already inconsistent, are also under threat.

Perhaps most pressing is the risk to Afghanistan’s polio eradication program, which WHO continues to operate despite growing constraints. Afghanistan is one of only two countries where the disease remains endemic, the other being neighbouring Pakistan.

Meanwhile, economic desperation is compounding the crisis. A staggering 85% of Afghans live on less than a dollar a day, according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has issued a fresh appeal to international donors, urging continued support for the 22.9 million Afghans in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

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