Afghan women turned away under de facto ban on treatment by male doctors
An unofficial Taliban ban on male doctors and dentists treating women is creating dangerous obstacles to medical care across Afghanistan, although no nationwide public order has been announced. Farida, 37, paid in advance for dental treatment in Herat after years of decay left her molars badly damaged. At her third appointment, when implants were due to be fitted, the clinic sent her home and later said a Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice order prevented male dentists from treating female patients. Three months later, her treatment remains unfinished and she still struggles to eat and drink.
Doctors and dentists told the Guardian and Zan Times that Taliban security forces have raided clinics and threatened male practitioners with imprisonment if female patients are found. In many provinces, male doctors may not examine women or provide emergency care unless a male guardian, or mahram, is present, while some procedures must be performed by female nurses. In Balkh, hospitals and clinics were reportedly ordered to use “Bibi” instead of women’s names, even on prescriptions. One elderly woman from Kunar travelled hundreds of miles to Kandahar for dental care because her son ran a clinic there.
The restrictions coincide with a wider collapse in women’s access to healthcare: since December 2024, women have been barred from studying at medical institutes, and hospitals have been told not to hire female staff. The shrinking number of female doctors must also have a mahram, leaving patients forced to delay treatment, take long journeys or risk violating Taliban rules.
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