The struggling described in your article (Taliban contraception ban: girls ‘damaged’ by deadly pregnancies and untreated miscarriages, 29 January) is actual and deeply regarding. Afghan girls face extreme constraints on mobility, decision-making and entry to healthcare, significantly in rural and distant areas the place providers and educated suppliers are scarce. However it’s also vital to recognise that the image will not be uniformly bleak.
Regardless of the restrictions, DKT Afghanistan, a regionally registered private-sector pharmaceutical organisation, has been capable of maintain and even develop entry to household planning and maternal well being providers by working inside cultural and non secular norms. In Afghanistan, household planning is commonly delivered as “start spacing”, an method that aligns with neighborhood expectations and Islamic rules.
DKT Afghanistan works by means of greater than 3,800 personal shops throughout 13 provinces, alongside clinics and neighborhood midwife networks in Kabul and Balkh. In 2024 alone, these providers reached practically 70,000 sufferers, together with greater than 40,000 household planning shoppers. That entry helped avert an estimated 298,000 unintended pregnancies and greater than 340 maternal deaths in 2024.
These features don’t negate the intense rights violations that Afghan girls endure, however they do present that progress, nonetheless fragile, continues to be potential. Recognising what works issues, particularly when worldwide engagement is wavering. Sustaining and scaling these pragmatic, culturally grounded approaches might save lives now, whereas longer-term rights and freedoms stay underneath menace.
George Papachristou Regional director, DKT Afghanistan and Pakistan
Gigih Yudhistira Nation supervisor, DKT Afghanistan
