The International Organization for Insecurity Insight has expressed concern, announcing that in the year 2023, a total of 109 cases of violence and 65 cases of detention against doctors and health workers have been recorded across Afghanistan.
In a published report, the organization stated that this figure has nearly doubled compared to 2022, when the number of recorded incidents was 87.
The report mentions that in 2023, 75% of kidnappings of doctors and health workers have decreased.
It also refers to an incident on October 11 of this year, where local officials of the current government assaulted a doctor for criticizing the parking of a vehicle at a health center in the Shindand district of Herat. Following this incident, the staff of this health center went on strike, but government officials ended the strike after two days without accepting their demands.
The International Organization for Insecurity Insight has indicated that many doctors and health workers in Afghanistan under the current government have been interrogated and imprisoned on charges of moral corruption, traveling without a male guardian, forgery, theft, connections with ISIS, and for not separating the work areas of male and female doctors and male and female patients.
This comes at a time when the current government has imposed a ban on women working in all non-governmental organizations and many governmental offices; however, the health sector is the only area where work and education for women in some educational centers have been permitted by the Taliban.
According to various reports from the World Health Organization, most people in Afghanistan do not have easy access to health services due to a shortage of doctors and health centers.
The International Organization for Insecurity Insight states that from January 1, 2024, to September 30, a total of 2,267 incidents of obstruction or violence against the provision of health services have been recorded in 53 countries, with approximately 236 health workers detained in 92 incidents.
