Date: 06/08/1404
Taliban's Order to Promote Virtue to Health Centers in the South: Female Patients Without a Male Guardian Should Not Be Treated.The quarterly report of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) states that the Taliban's virtue and prevention of vice officers in a number of provinces are preventing women without a male guardian from accessing health services. The report, published today (Tuesday, October 28), states that the Taliban's virtue and prevention of vice officers regularly monitor health centers across the country to check whether the rules of gender segregation, hijab, and accompanying patients are being observed by a mahram. The UNAMA report noted that on July 26 in Uruzgan Province, virtue enforcement officers visited two health centers and instructed staff not to provide health services to women without a male guardian. On September 1 in Kandahar Province, virtue officers monitored a health centre and ordered female staff to be at work with their male relatives and that female patients without a male guardian should not be treated. According to the UNAMA report, on September 9 in Kandahar, officials of the Taliban's Office for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice met with health officials to remind health NGOs that female health workers should have male relatives at all times.According to the report, on September 22, Taliban virtue officers ordered male dentists not to allow women to be treated. The Taliban have told health centers that if they want to provide dental services to women, they should hire female doctors. Meanwhile, Afghanistan's health sector is facing a shortage of female doctors, and on the other hand, the Taliban have banned girls' education and education, including in the health sector.

This entry documents directives by Taliban Vice and Virtue authorities restricting women’s access to healthcare by requiring a male guardian (mahram) and enforcing gender-based conditions on treatment and employment in health facilities. The measures reflect the imposition of morality-based regulations on access to essential services, limiting women’s ability to receive medical care and participate in the health workforce. They indicate the systematic integration of such restrictions into the health sector, with implications for both service delivery and women’s rights.