KIT collaborated with WHO EMRO to conduct an assessment of the health workforce status in Afghanistan since the government transition and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The project was to understand the challenges and opportunities for the health workforce and use the new insights to drive evidence-informed policy making. This assessment came around the same time as the new government, the Taliban, installed its strict policies in relation to women in the workforce. 

Overview of the paper

Despite decades of conflict, instability, and workforce shortages, Afghanistan’s health system has achieved successes. To achieve universal health coverage, the country requires a fit-for-purpose health workforce. This study conducted a situational analysis of the health workforce focusing on distribution by geography, gender, and facility type. 

A multi-stage assessment indicated that the majority (73%) of the workforce is employed in the public sector, with a total of 10.3 key health workers (physicians, nurses, and midwives) per 10,000 populations. This figure is substantially short of the WHO recommended threshold of 44.5 per 10,000. There are also major geographic and gender disparities. For example, the region of Kabul accounts for approximately 50% of the country’s specialist doctors, and only 18% of specialist doctors are female. In addition, new government policies have restricted female education which threatens female majority roles, such as midwives, and obstetrics/gynaecology.