Women in Afghanistan can no longer attend medical institutes

In the maternity ward of one of Kabul’s main hospitals in the summer of 2018, Feroza Mushtari, who was then the health adviser to the first lady of Afghanistan, was eager to share what her country had achieved in maternal health.

“You can see lots of progress,” the midwife said during a tour of the ward. “We have over 10,000 midwives nationwide. They are providing midwifery services.”

In the years since the US invasion, maternal health in Afghanistan improved. Despite the war, more women gained access to health care, and a new generation of students trained to become nurses, midwives and doctors.

But now, their strides in the field may be on hold, or reversed. A new directive from the Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada bans women from studying dentistry, nursing and midwifery. The group, which took over the country by force in 2021 after the US withdrawal, also reportedly prevents women from getting treatment from male doctors unless a male guardian is present. 

The Taliban has also prohibited all other secondary education for women. This new edict has raised alarm about the future of women in Afghanistan and their access to basic medical care.

Mushtari lived through the last time the Taliban were in power in the 1990s, a period that she described as one of the darkest for women in Afghanistan.

One time, she recalled, her neighbor came knocking on the door. She was heavily pregnant and in pain. She needed to get to the hospital immediately. But she had to have a male guardian to accompany her, as required by the Taliban. Her husband was away, working in Iran.

“I was feeling like someone was dying in front of me, and I cannot do anything. Then, after a 10-to-15-minute argument with my mom and negotiations, I finally convinced her to let me change my clothes and take the lady to the hospital,” she recounted.

Mushtari disguised herself as a man. She said that she put on her dad’s large coat and scarf, and took her neighbor to the hospital, saving her life and that of her baby.

“I promised myself to dedicate my life to saving mothers’ lives. This was the time I decided to become a midwife,” she said.

Afghan women say the new order by the Taliban will be a death sentence for mothers and their infants.

Najiah Habibi lives central Afghanistan’s Parwan province. Before the Taliban took over, she was studying political science. When the group banned higher education for women, she was forced to switch to midwifery, which was one of the last remaining fields open to women.

“We’re suffocating,” she said. “All doors have been closed on us.”

When the news broke, Habibi was getting ready for her final exams. She was in her last semester, eagerly looking forward to helping patients with their deliveries.

Now, she’s forced to stay at home.

Martine Flokstra is the operations manager for Afghanistan at the medical nongovernmental organization Doctors Without Borders. She is worried about the impact of this decision on women.

“If no girls can attend secondary school, and no women can attend university or medical institutes, who will be the future female health professionals and who will be there in the future to attend Afghan women when they are at their most vulnerable?” she said.

Flokstra said that half of the organization’s medical staff in Afghanistan are women. And it’s difficult to see a future without them in the medical field, especially given that in some parts of the country, women are only allowed to see a female health care provider.

“That’s unbelievably stressful to say the least. Health care is for all genders and needs to be delivered by all genders. That is everywhere in the world, including Afghanistan,” she said.

The Taliban Ministry of Health did not respond to The World’s request for an interview for this story.