The struggle to access cancer care in Afghanistan

WHO EMRO
Feb 11, 2025

The struggle to access cancer care in Afghanistan


In the remote mountains of Afghanistan, where the air is thin and the roads treacherous, a silent battle is being fought against an invisible enemy – cancer. For many people living in outreach areas, the journey to the National Cancer Diagnostic and Therapeutic Hospital in Kabul is a lifeline, though one paved with hardship.

Fatima, a 42-year-old mother of 4 living in Ahmader, a small village in the province of Badakhshan, first noticed a lump in her left breast a year ago. By the time she gathered enough money to travel to Kabul, the cancer had spread. Her journey from the village to Kabul took 3 days, first by donkey, then by car. Each mile was a struggle, each bump on the road a reminder of her pain.

When Fatima finally arrived at the National Cancer Diagnostic and Therapeutic Hospital, the only hospital of its kind in the country, she found it overwhelmed.