OCHA warns Afghanistan health sector faces funding shortfall
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned that a funding shortfall has reduced the capacity to respond to the health needs of Afghanistan’s people and is putting the continuation of essential services in remote areas at risk.
OCHA wrote on X on Sunday, 1 Sonbola, that health needs in Afghanistan are beyond available resources and that the health sector has so far been funded at only 37 percent.
According to the agency, a total of $191 million has been requested for Afghanistan’s health sector, but only $71 million has been secured so far.
OCHA said mobile health teams, supported by the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund, are providing essential and life-saving health services to residents of remote areas where access to health facilities is limited.
The agency added that the continuation of these services depends on securing more resources, and that the funding shortfall limits the ability to meet people’s health needs.
OCHA is the UN humanitarian coordination agency and regularly reports in its updates on funding gaps in critical sectors, including health, in Afghanistan.
