Health

Afghans with TB ‘struggling’ to get accessible treatment: MSF

Published

4 years ago

December 11, 2022

Afghanistan’s broken economy and dysfunctional health care system has left thousands of patients in a vulnerable situation across the country, especially people with tuberculosis (TB).

According to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) there is a critical shortage of advanced medical treatment available for TB patients, coupled with a widespread lack of knowledge about the disease.

One such example is Jawahira who was referred to MSF’s tuberculosis (TB) hospital in Kandahar earlier this year from a clinic in Daikundi, in central Afghanistan. “I used to visit private clinics, but instead of giving me TB medication, they usually just prescribed painkillers,” she said.

MSF’s 24-bed TB hospital in Kandahar is the only medical facility providing advanced TB care in southern Afghanistan. Many of the patients come from the nearby provinces of Helmand, Uruzgan, Nimroz and Zabul, but others travel from more than 500 kms away, from Farah, Daikundi, Badghis, Ghazni, and Paktika provinces.

“Our catchment area is so big, it is impossible to know exactly how many people are in it,” said MSF medical advisor Allieu Tommy. “Many travel from afar, and we support them by paying for transport costs, housing expenses, and food to alleviate some of the economic burden.” Without such incentives, most patients could not afford to come for treatment.

The cost of searching for treatment also took its toll on Jawahira. “My home is far away in Uruzgan, so when we went to see a doctor, I had to spend 6,000 Afghani ($67) for the car fare and then 13,000 ($146) for the drugs they gave me.”

The amount Jawahira spent on each visit to the doctor is about one-third of the average monthly income in Afghanistan. According to the World Bank, an estimated 60 percent of the country’s population is unemployed and has no income at all, exacerbated by sanctions and other financial measures against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).

People often struggle to afford even basic food items, let alone travel expenses and medical fees for hospital visits. Meanwhile, the public health care system is under-resourced, under-staffed, and under-funded, MSF said.

The father of another patient at the Kandahar hospital, Hamdullah, said: “Our daughter Bibi is nine years old and has been sick since childhood, but we did not know of her illness — we had never heard the name TB before.”

MSF teams carry out regular health promotion activities in local communities in Kandahar to spread awareness about TB. They also provide information to patients and caretakers at the hospital in Kandahar.

“When a person arrives for the first time and learns that they have TB, we talk to them about what it is, how it’s transmitted, how to be careful around family members, and how long the treatment will take,” explained MSF nurse Taiba Azizi.

Providing this information is simple but effective. “Now I understand the symptoms and people back home know it is a dangerous disease,” said Hamdullah. “If somebody had seen her [Bibi] earlier, they would have said she would not recover. But now, we know she can get past this. She has already started to eat and walk. We hope she is getting better.”

MSF also tests a patient’s family for TB, as the disease is highly transmissible, particularly when people live close together.

MSF stated that some patients have a form of the disease that is resistant to conventional TB drugs and requires treatment that lasts nine to 12 months. This can be especially difficult to cope with during a hospital stay, far from friends and relatives. As a result, many patients stop their treatment early.

But next year, a six-month short course regimen will be rolled out that should make it easier for people to finish their treatment.

MSF has already set up a diagnose and treatment program that combines specialist inpatient care with supervised home-based treatment to help patients better cope with the regimens.

“What we offer is a system whereby a person spends the first 30 days in our facility under careful observation and, if they do not experience major adverse side effects from the drugs taken, they are discharged for homecare,” said Azizi.

“Our staff then do weekly follow-ups over the phone, so patients only need to come back to the hospital once a month to renew their medications and have an in-person consultation.”

Women and children are most vulnerable to TB

Over 70 percent of patients in MSF’s Kandahar TB hospital are women and children. “Women and children stay at home in dusty, poorly ventilated rooms for longer periods of time than men,” said Tommy.

“If a woman gets infected, the children are likely to catch the disease as well. Other cultural factors play a role too. Women whisper or speak in very low tones to one another, especially if men are in the room. Respiratory tract infections are then easily transmissible due to their proximity.”

An additional challenge for female patients is that they are generally required to be accompanied by a male family member to the hospital, and this coupled with the economic barriers can significantly reduce their access to health care.

It is estimated that TB and its resistant forms kill more than 13,000 people in Afghanistan every year.

Access to proper care remains a major challenge for patients in the southern part of the country, mainly due to insufficient medical infrastructure, length of treatment, and financial obstacles. While MSF’s TB hospital in Kandahar provides free quality treatment for many, the people of Afghanistan need a more robust and sustainable health care system to meet their many urgent needs, MSF stated.

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Afghanistan, Uzbekistan move to expand cooperation in pharmaceutical sector

The two sides discussed expanding cooperation in the production and regulation of medicines and health products.

Published

5 days ago

June 21, 2026

Ariana News

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health has announced that Abdul Basir Qane, Director General of Drug and Health Products Regulation at the ministry’s Food and Drug Deputy, held talks with Uzbek health officials during his visit to Uzbekistan to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector.

According to a statement issued by the ministry, Qane and his technical delegation met with Abdullah Azizov, head of Uzbekistan’s regulatory authority for medical and pharmaceutical industries, along with other senior officials.

The two sides discussed expanding cooperation in the production and regulation of medicines and health products, facilitating the entry of Uzbek pharmaceutical manufacturers into the Afghan market, implementing inspections in line with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards, streamlining the registration process for medicines, and increasing bilateral trade in pharmaceutical products.

The discussions also covered the development of laboratory infrastructure, capacity building and training for specialists, the exchange of expertise in regulatory and inspection fields, and broader technical and professional cooperation between the two countries.

At the conclusion of the meeting, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening long-term cooperation in the pharmaceutical and health products sector, supporting the activities of pharmaceutical companies in both markets, and continuing dialogue on mutually beneficial joint projects, the ministry said.

Health

Polio cases in Afghanistan rise to six in 2026 as two new cases confirmed

According to the WHO, one of the newly confirmed cases was identified in Nari district of Kunar province, while the other was reported in Nahr-e-Siraj district of Helmand province.

Published

1 week ago

June 18, 2026

Ariana News

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the number of confirmed polio cases in Afghanistan has risen to six in 2026, following the detection of two new infections in the country.

According to the WHO, one of the newly confirmed cases was identified in Nari district of Kunar province, while the other was reported in Nahr-e-Siraj district of Helmand province. The organization also stated that 34 positive environmental samples of wild poliovirus have been recorded in Afghanistan so far this year.

The report adds that in 2025, a total of 52 wild poliovirus type 1 cases were confirmed across Afghanistan and Pakistan, including 21 cases in Afghanistan and 31 in Pakistan.

WHO further noted that in 2026 so far, nine wild poliovirus type 1 cases have been reported across both countries, with six in Afghanistan and three in Pakistan.

Health experts say that low public awareness, resistance from some families to vaccination campaigns, and limited access to remote areas remain key factors behind the continued spread of the disease.

They emphasize that polio is incurable and vaccination is the only effective way to prevent infection.

Public health specialists also stress the need to expand immunization coverage, particularly in hard-to-reach areas, and to strengthen public awareness campaigns, warning that eradication efforts will remain difficult without broad community cooperation.

Afghanistan and Pakistan remain the only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus is still endemic and has not been fully eradicated.

Health

Health ministry urges greater public participation in blood donation

The appeal was made on Saturday as health officials marked World Blood Donor Day, an annual event aimed at raising awareness about the importance of voluntary blood donation and recognizing the contribution of donors in saving lives.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 14, 2026

Ariana News

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health has called on citizens to increase their participation in blood donation campaigns, warning that many patients still struggle to obtain compatible blood in emergencies despite improvements in the country’s blood management system.

Speaking at the ceremony, officials highlighted the critical role blood donors play in supporting the healthcare system and ensuring that hospitals have adequate supplies for patients requiring urgent treatment.

Abdul Wali Haqqani, Deputy Minister for Health Services at the Ministry of Public Health, said that shortages in blood reserves continue to pose challenges for healthcare providers, particularly when patients require specific blood types.

“Unfortunately, patients who need blood do not always have immediate access to compatible negative blood groups,” Haqqani said. “Blood donation is a simple yet invaluable humanitarian act. The World Health Organization recommends that at least one percent of a country’s population donate blood regularly to maintain sufficient reserves.”

Haqqani stressed that increasing public participation in blood donation could significantly improve the availability of life-saving blood supplies and strengthen healthcare services across the country.

Meanwhile, Wahdat Alkozi, Director of Curative Medicine at the ministry, said Afghanistan has made notable progress in blood management in recent years. He noted that standardized blood separation and storage systems are now operating at the Central Blood Bank and several regional hospitals.

“We are working to expand these systems throughout the country so that patients can have greater access to safe and standardized blood services,” Alkozi said.

According to officials from the Central Blood Bank, more than 220,000 units of blood were collected from voluntary donors over the past year. The blood was used in the treatment of more than 250,000 patients nationwide, underscoring the growing demand for blood supplies in hospitals and healthcare facilities.

However, Niazgul Niazmand, head of the Central Blood Bank, said the shortage of negative blood groups remains a major challenge due to the limited number of donors with those blood types.

Health experts emphasize that blood donation not only helps save the lives of accident victims, surgical patients, mothers experiencing childbirth complications, and individuals suffering from serious illnesses, but can also benefit donors by promoting healthy blood circulation and stimulating the production of new blood cells.

World Blood Donor Day is observed every year on June 14 to encourage voluntary blood donation and raise awareness about the ongoing need for safe blood and blood products around the world.