The World Health Organization (WHO) in Afghanistan has received over US$ 6.3 million in humanitarian funding from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (OCHA) Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF) to expand health services for the country’s most vulnerable communities.

Of this support, the CERF allocation of US$ 4.98 million as part of its underfunded emergencies window will allow WHO to operate 42 primary health care centres (PHCs), deploy 15 surveillance support teams (SSTs) and procure and deliver 249 primary health care kits to 13 provinces. The AHF grant of US$ 1.39 million will support 6 sub-health centres, 10 SSTs and 13 inpatient therapeutic feeding centres, providing lifesaving care for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in 4 provinces with the greatest needs.

The CERF and AHF contributions arrive at a time when Afghanistan’s health system faces severe pressure, with almost 1 in 3 people unable to access even the most basic care.