WHO asks Taliban to lift curbs on female aid workers for quake relief

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has asked the Taliban authorities to lift restrictions on Afghan female aid workers, allowing them to travel without male guardians and help women struggling to access care after a powerful earthquake killed 2,200 people in eastern Afghanistan.

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ISLAMABAD -

Dr Mukta Sharma, the deputy representative of WHO's Afghanistan office, said: "A very big issue now is the increasing paucity of female staff in these places."

She estimated that about 90 per cent of medical staff in the area were men, with the remaining 10 per cent being mostly midwives and nurses rather than doctors able to treat severe wounds.

This has hampered care, as women are often uncomfortable or afraid to interact with male staff and to travel alone to receive care.

The 6-magnitude quake on September 1 and its aftershocks injured more than 3,600 people and left thousands homeless in a country already dealing with severe aid cuts and a slew of humanitarian crises since the Taliban took over in 2021 as foreign forces left.