Afghanistan is a landlocked, Central Asian country with a population of 35 million people and a life expectancy at birth of 59 years (male) and 62 years (female). Decades of war waged a heavy toll on the country’s healthcare system while substantially increasing the need for medical care. Though only 9% of the population had access to health services within a two-hour distance after the end of Taliban rule (2002), this figure had increased to 87% by 2014. Today, healthcare in Afghanistan continues to suffer from substantial gaps in infrastructure, from chronic insecurity that makes parts of the country inaccessible to health services, and from persistent corruption. The country has a large and unregulated private sector, and out-of-pocket accounts for 78% of current health expenditure (2015). The Ministry of Public Health’s National Health Strategy 2016-2020 sets a framework for the health sector to achieve economic and human resources self-reliance, in anticipation of a steep decline in development assistance received by Afghanistan over the coming years. You can access important country documents by clicking here.