Progress on family planning in Afghanistan is still possible | Letter

Letter: George Papachristou and Gigih Yudhistira offer some hope in response to a report on how the Taliban’s ban on birth control is affecting Afghan women

The suffering described in your article (Taliban birth control ban: women ‘broken’ by lethal pregnancies and untreated miscarriages, 29 January) is real and deeply concerning. Afghan women face severe constraints on mobility, decision-making and access to healthcare, particularly in rural and remote areas where services and trained providers are scarce. But it is also important to recognise that the picture is not uniformly bleak.

Despite the restrictions, DKT Afghanistan, a locally registered private-sector pharmaceutical organisation, has been able to sustain and even expand access to family planning and maternal health services by working within cultural and religious norms. In Afghanistan, family planning is often delivered as “birth spacing”, an approach that aligns with community expectations and Islamic principles.

DKT Afghanistan works through more than 3,800 private outlets across 13 provinces, alongside clinics and community midwife networks in Kabul and Balkh. In 2024 alone, these services reached nearly 70,000 patients, including more than 40,000 family planning clients. That access helped avert an estimated 298,000 unintended pregnancies and more than 340 maternal deaths in 2024.

These gains do not negate the serious rights violations that Afghan women endure, but they do show that progress, however fragile, is still possible. Recognising what works matters, especially when international engagement is wavering. Sustaining and scaling these pragmatic, culturally grounded approaches could save lives now, while longer-term rights and freedoms remain under threat.
George Papachristou Regional director, DKT Afghanistan and Pakistan
Gigih Yudhistira Country manager, DKT Afghanistan