Global Health Otherwise (GHO) shared on LinkedIn:
“Armed conflict now shapes healthcare access for millions of women worldwide, with nearly 17% of the global female population living near a conflict zone in 2024, the highest figure in three decades.
Ahmad and colleagues (2026) argue that international efforts to protect women in war focus too narrowly on violence, overlooking the destruction of the health systems women rely on. In Afghanistan, the authors note that the loss of $562m in USAID funding closed over 420 health facilities in 2025 and drove a 3 to 4% rise in infant mortality.
Community-run ‘family health houses’ have countered some of this damage, reaching over five million people through locally recruited midwives despite Taliban restrictions. In Gaza, the authors describe how 63% of reproductive health service points had stopped functioning by September 2025, pushing women to give birth in shelters and tents.
Mobile maternity units and local midwives still reached over 170,000 women and girls. The authors conclude that community-based health systems deserve formal recognition as a fourth pillar of protecting women during conflict.
Conflict is destroying the health systems women depend on in Afghanistan and Gaza. Ahmad and colleagues call for community-based care to be formally recognized as essential to protecting women worldwide.
Other articles about Global Health Otherwise on OncoDaily.
