USAID funding cuts leave Afghan villages without medical care, fueling deaths

The Trump administration’s across-the-board reduction of USAID funding has devastated health provision in Afghanistan’s remote areas. Refugees International attributes over 160 deaths in the last year and a half to these cuts, noting that about 500 clinics closed initially and a further 300 shuttered later, depriving six million people of local care. Stories from Herat province illustrate how patients like Abdul Rahman died after an ambulance failed to arrive, and how mothers such as Simagul lost infants due to delayed treatment and inability to afford transport.

Midwife Laleh, formerly with the International Rescue Committee, describes the collapse of mobile health services and the loss of her livelihood. At Nangarhar’s government hospital, Dr. Sikander Ghani reports a surge in severely malnourished children, many arriving too late for effective treatment. Taliban rules requiring a male guardian for women to travel compound the crisis, preventing timely access to hospitals and contributing to maternal and infant mortality.