Public Health Situation Analysis - Afghanistan - March 2026

Overview

Afghanistan faces a harsh winter at a moment of heightened vulnerability and escalating humanitarian need. After multiple years of compounding shocks, families have exhausted nearly every option they once relied on to survive.

Afghanistan is seeing an escalation of insecurity on its borders - increased fighting on the eastern and southern frontier with Pakistan, and ongoing violence in Iran. Since 26 February, violence has escalated across the Durand Line, triggering displacement of approximately 20 000 families across the Eastern, Southeastern and Southern regions. Between 26 February to 2 March 2026, there were at least 146 civilian casualties in Afghanistan, with 42 people killed, and 104 injured, including women and children. On the other side of the country, on Afghanistan’s western border, violence in Iran is sparking fears of a surge in returnees.

In 2026, 17.4 million people—over one-third of the population—are facing crisis or emergency levels of hunger. A sharp increase of three million people from last year marks one of the most severe lean seasons in decades. Acute malnutrition is also worsening, impacting an estimated 3.7 million children under five and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women in 2026.

Health outcomes in Afghanistan have long been shaped by profound structural disadvantage, including decades of conflict, poverty, limited infrastructure, chronic underinvestment, corruption, and aid dependence. Recent political changes have intensified these challenges, imposing new barriers that severely limit women’s and girls’ access to health systems and their capacity to make autonomous decisions about their bodies and their health.

These policies exacerbate a crisis brought on by massive cuts to international assistance that are severely undermining life-saving programs and straining an already overstretched health system. For women and girls, the cuts are converting an oppressive framework into a health catastrophe, leaving millions without essential care.