Shafaqna English- The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on the Taliban to ease restrictions on female aid workers, saying their presence is vital in delivering medical assistance to women affected by last week’s deadly earthquake.
The 6.0-magnitude quake on September 1 killed more than 2,200 people, injured over 3,600, and left thousands homeless in eastern Afghanistan.
With most medical staff in the area being men, WHO officials warn that Afghan women are struggling to access care due to cultural barriers and rules requiring a male guardian for travel.
“A very big issue now is the increasing paucity of female staff in these places,” Dr Mukta Sharma, Deputy Representative of WHO in Afghanistan told Reuters. She said roughly 90% of available health workers in the area were men while the remaining 10% were mostly midwives and nurses rather than doctors equipped to treat serious injuries.
Sources: Ariana News