The BMJ appeal 2021-22: MSF is working to ensure the people of Afghanistan have access to healthcare

Afghanistan’s health service is now close to collapse, after the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and other international donors withdrew when the Taliban took over. And the World Health Organization predicts that a million children in the country face starvation this winter.1

Médecins Sans Frontières is one of a handful of non-governmental organisations able to maintain high standards of healthcare for the Afghan people. Its workforce is now almost singlehandedly confronting the imminent crisis facing the country.

“We are chartering our own planes to bring in tons of medicines and equipment,” explains Mohammed Abdullah,* MSF’s deputy medical coordinator. “I’m being paid regularly, as one of MSF’s workforce of around 1200 Afghan doctors and nurses, and that is very unusual. Most qualified practitioners, along with millions of fellow Afghans, have lost their jobs or are demotivated and failing to turn up to work because they are not …