In the past few weeks, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), under an agreement with the Global Fund, has quietly extended a lifeline to Afghanistan’s health system and all the families that depend on it, providing $15 million to avoid the collapse of the entire sector. 

Over 23,000 health workers, in nearly 2,200 health facilities across 31 provinces, have received wages since the scheme got underway. UNDP has also paid for medicines and health supplies. 

Deputy Resident Representative in Afghanistan, Surayo Buzurukova, told UN News the Agency “undertook this enormous challenge to help prevent the total collapse of the health system.” 

She spoke to UN News’s Alexandre Soares.