“Countless lives” at risk in Afghanistan as health services collapse, warns WHO

International donations cannot keep up with the pace of the growing health crisis in Afghanistan and if not tackled eight million people will lose access to essential and potentially lifesaving care this year, the World Health Organization has warned.

The country’s health sector needs an additional $413m to deliver health services to at least 14 million Afghani people in 2023 while WHO requires an additional $125m for its services.1 If the funding gap is not tackled 450 000 patients will have little to no access to life saving trauma care services and global disease eradication efforts will be hampered, said WHO. …