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Kabul : World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met with Taliban Health Minister Qalander Ebad to discuss Afghanistan’s “dire” health and humanitarian problems, according to the WHO. According to Khaama Press, Ghebreyesus stated that the meeting was held on Tuesday in Geneva.
Ebad is part of a Taliban team that is engaging with institutions and non-governmental organisations in Geneva for a week on humanitarian access and human rights as Afghanistan’s new authorities strengthen their international involvement. Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last August, the country has plummeted into financial chaos, with inflation and unemployment skyrocketing, and aid halts and US sanctions resulting in a humanitarian crisis in a country already wrecked by decades of war. Tedros had already met Ebad in September 2021, on his post-Taliban takeover visit to Kabul.
“Afghanistan’s health situation is terrible, and the extreme humanitarian catastrophe continues to jeopardise lives,” Tedros said following his meeting with the Health Minister in Geneva. They discussed the country’s health needs, system strengthening, catastrophe preparedness, and health workforce training, he said, with women playing a vital role.
“Diagnostics to detect the Covid-19 virus, notably Omicron, are urgently needed in Afghanistan because the number of patients is increasing,” Tedros stated.
