Afghan women left without dental and medical care under de facto Taliban ban on male doctors

No written rule, but a widespread practice

The Guardian, working with the Zan Times, reports that Afghan women are increasingly unable to see a doctor, even though the Taliban have made no public announcement setting out such a ban. Male doctors interviewed by the outlets said they had received directives, and the restriction appears to be enforced in most provinces.

Under these directives, male doctors may not examine women or give them emergency care, except when a male guardian, known as a mahram, accompanies the patient, or when female nurses carry out certain procedures. The restrictions come on top of earlier measures. According to Spiegel Online, women have not been allowed to study at medical universities since December 2024, and hospitals may not hire female staff. Tagesspiegel adds that the few remaining female doctors may practise only under the supervision of a male guardian.

A dental patient in Herat

A 37-year-old woman, who had returned from Iran earlier this year with her family, was living in Herat in western Afghanistan and struggling to find work. In early July she went to a dental clinic in the Bakrabad area of Herat because her toothache had become unbearable. The dentist said several teeth needed to be extracted and replaced with implants or dentures, and the clinic set out a treatment plan requiring several visits and full payment in advance.

At the third session, when the implants were due to be fitted, staff told her they could not treat her at that moment and asked her to go home. Two days later she phoned and was told the treatment could no longer be completed. According to the Guardian's account, the clinic cited an order from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice that bars male dentists from treating women. By the time of the reporting, about three months after her first visit, her treatment remained unfinished.

Enforcement and threats

Dentists told the Guardian that Taliban security forces enforce the restriction through raids on clinics. They say male practitioners are warned that they will be imprisoned if female patients are found on their premises. In most provinces, male doctors say they have received similar instructions, which bar them from examining female patients or providing emergency care to them except under the specific conditions described above.

Balkh province and the word 'Bibi'

In the northern province of Balkh, doctors are reportedly not allowed to address patients by their names at all. According to the Guardian's report, Taliban officials have instructed hospitals, private practices and clinics to use the word 'Bibi' instead, a respectful form of address for older women. Spiegel Online reports that medical prescriptions in the province show only 'Bibi' rather than the woman's name. Because no official announcement has been made, these rules are known only from the accounts of doctors, patients and the interviews collected by the Guardian and the Zan Times.