The United Kingdom’s chargé d’affaires to Afghanistan, Robert Dickson, has issued a sharp warning over the Taliban’s continued ban on women studying medicine, calling it a “terrible blow” to the health of Afghan women and children. Speaking on the International Day of the Midwife (5 May), Dickson urged the Taliban to immediately lift the restrictions, emphasising that female medical education is critical to saving lives in a country already teetering on the edge of a healthcare crisis.
In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the British Embassy for Afghanistan underscored the urgency of the matter, highlighting that Afghanistan now ranks seventh globally in maternal mortality. The embassy labelled the reversal of the ban as “essential for protecting public health and preventing needless deaths.”
The ban, issued in December 2024 by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, prohibits Afghan women from enrolling in all higher and mid-level medical education institutions. The move drew immediate and widespread condemnation from both within Afghanistan and across the international community, with health experts warning that the country’s already fragile medical infrastructure is being pushed to the brink.
According to the World Health Organisation, Afghanistan continues to suffer from one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world, with 24 women and 167 children dying every day from complications that are largely preventable—complications that trained female healthcare workers could address.
The United Nations and global medical bodies have repeatedly sounded the alarm, warning that excluding women from medical training is not just a violation of human rights, but a direct threat to public health.
