The European Union has allocated €16 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) and €15 million to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to improve the provision of quality health services for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer, and expand reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health services in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan faces significant challenges in providing basic health care services, especially for women, young people and those living in deprived areas. Basic health services are available to just 10% of women. Maternal, child and neonatal mortality rates are among the highest in the world. A mother’s life is lost to preventable complications related to pregnancy and childbirth every 2 hours, and 25% of Afghans live in hard to reach and underserved areas.

Afghanistan also faces an increasing burden of NCDs which account for almost 50% of all deaths, half of them women. These challenges, combined with limited financial resources and a scarcity of trained health professionals, place strains on the country’s fragile health system, impacting the availability and quality of services.