Does Afghanistan ban the sale of contraceptives?

Another blow to women’s rights in Afghanistan. According to local media Rukhshana, the Taliban discreetly ordered that pharmacies and other drugstores stop selling contraceptives in Kabul and Balkh provinces. If the information had not yet been officially confirmed by the Taliban through the Ministry of Public Health, according to the media it would only be a matter of time.

Rukhshana it also collected numerous testimonies revealing that some midwives have stopped providing contraceptive pills to their patients, under pressure from the Taliban.

Price explosion of pills on the black market

As a direct consequence of this measure, the price of contraception would double on the black market, making it even more difficult to access. Shamim, mother of four interviewed by Rukhshanarecounts how, after five years on the pill, for a few weeks she was unable to take any: “I can’t find it in many pharmacies in Kabul. The pharmacists told me it was forbidden, so sales are now done secretly and in fact prices have exploded”.

A record of maternal mortality

This provision marks a step backwards for the country which, as the media recalls, had expanded access to contraception in recent years, thanks to the field work of the previous government and international organisations. Free pills have even been handed out in some state-regulated medical centers to help combat maternal mortality.

Indeed, the latest UNFPA report (2022) shows that Afghanistan has the highest maternal mortality rate in Asia, with 638 deaths during childbirth per 100,000 mothers, compared to 394 before the Taliban takeover in August 2021 .

This measure, if it were to be confirmed by the current government, would therefore add to the long list of bans affecting Afghan women since the Taliban took power.

Feature Image Credit: Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition