Taliban Issues New Decree on Mental Health Treatment, Women Left Excluded
The Taliban’s supreme leader has issued a decree ordering the collection and transfer of mentally ill patients across Afghanistan to the Red Crescent for free treatment. However, reports indicate that the initiative has so far only included men, leaving women in critical psychological conditions without access to care.
According to Independent Persian, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice announced that dozens of patients have already been gathered from provinces including Samangan, Jawzjan, Badakhshan, Kunduz, Kabul, and Nimroz. Images released from the process, however, show that all admitted patients are men, with no women receiving treatment.
The decree comes amid alarming statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), which estimates that nearly half of Afghanistan’s population suffers from mental health problems due to decades of war, poverty, unemployment, and lack of social welfare.
In its statement, the Taliban ministry referred to patients as “mad” and claimed the program aims to create a “healthy and problem-free society.” Yet, experts stress that the roots of Afghanistan’s mental health crisis lie in harsh economic realities and severe social restrictions, particularly on women.
As reported by Pajhwok, Taliban health officials have acknowledged that Afghanistan has only about 1,100 therapists and 130 psychiatrists, far below the estimated need for at least 3,000 specialists. Meanwhile, widespread restrictions on women under Taliban rule have fueled rising levels of depression and anxiety among Afghan women, many of whom resort to excessive use of sedatives such as trimipramine.
While the decree emphasizes free treatment, the exclusion of women and ongoing social and political crises have deepened concerns over Afghanistan’s worsening mental health emergency.
