Women training as medics at private institutes in Afghanistan could not attend their courses on Wednesday, saying they had been barred from classes in an apparent expansion of the bans on female education.
The rights of Afghan women have been curtailed since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan three years ago. Women and girls have been gradually barred from attending secondary school and university, undertaking most forms of paid employment, traveling without a male family member, and accessing public spaces.
Health services remained one of the few sectors where women were still employed. After the bans on university studies, those who sought to become health professionals turned to midwifery and nursing training.
Azra, 21, who along with her sister attended a course at a private medical institute in Kabul, went to class on Tuesday morning but was soon asked to leave.
“We went to our classes but about an hour later, teachers came and said we must leave before the Taliban come and force us to leave. My dream of becoming a health professional was being taken from me and I couldn’t do anything about it,” she told Arab News.
She graduated from high school three years ago and started studying law at a private university. But before she could complete her first semester, the Taliban imposed a ban on women’s higher education. Determined to become a professional despite the odds, she joined the medical institute.
“This was my last hope to get higher education,” Azra said. “I joined this institute around two and half months ago. I wish I didn’t start this at all.”
None of the Taliban authorities has issued any statement or public notification regarding the ban on nursing courses for women, but in messages to their students and teachers, some of the medical institutes have cited the Ministry of Public Health, which ordered them to suspend classes for women “until further notice.”
The Afghan Ministry of Public Health did not respond to requests for comment.
Laila, 28, who had completed eight semesters of medical studies before the Taliban banned women from universities, was taking a two-year midwifery course at a private institute in Kabul.
The new ban came just as she was about to finish her first year.
“Two days ago, we received a voice message from the institute director that the Ministry of Public Health suspended all private and public medical institutes,” she told Arab News.
“We were all very disappointed. The last door for getting professional education was being shut in our faces and we couldn’t do anything.”
The move affects not only the education sector but also the country’s fragile health system, where the number of women workers is already insufficient.
Edwin Ceniza Salvador, the WHO’s representative in Afghanistan, estimated last month that more than 33 percent of the Afghan population had no access to any health services.
“About 67 percent of the population currently has access,” he told the Afghan news channel Tolo News, where he warned about the decreasing number of women medics. “Now, with the change that has been in place, (there) will come a time where we will run out of female midwives because the educational system has been impacted.”
Dr. Wahid Faizi, a public health practitioner in Herat, told Arab News that the lack of female health workers was already affecting Afghan society at large.
“Our health system is already facing a shortage of qualified female doctors, nurses and midwives. If girls are prevented from receiving medical education, in a few years we will have a very big problem, as the availability of female health workers will become extremely scarce. This will negatively affect access to health services for women and girls and the wider society,” he said.
“The health system will face severe challenges as women and girls are the most affected by health issues. Male doctors alone will not be able to respond to the health crisis that the country is currently experiencing. An increasing lack of female medical staff will have far-reaching implications for health service delivery in the country. We hope that doesn’t happen.”
