Kabul hospitals face looming medical supply shortage

Director of the Afghan Japan Hospital in Kabul, Zalmi Rishtin, said the facility was using medicine from the existing stock and he was unsure about getting new medical supplies anytime soon.

"Before the changes (Taliban takeover) we had supplies for one quarter. We had brought medicines and the stock was full, and we are issuing medicines from the same stock. In the past, we would purchase medicine whenever there is shortage. But for now, we are just using medicines that we have," he said.

Hundreds of medical facilities in Afghanistan are at risk of imminent closure because donors who provide the financing are not allowed to deal with the new Taliban government, a World Health Organization (WHO) official told Reuters last Monday.

More than 3.5 million Afghans were already displaced in a country that is battling drought and the COVID-19 pandemic. As displaced huddle in camps, aid agencies were warning that the overcrowded conditions could bring a new surge in coronavirus cases.