Education, a Health Imperative: The Case of Afghanistan

Education is not only a right, but an essential condition for the health and well-being of individuals and the communities in which they live. Despite strong authority within Islamic law and traditions affirmatively promoting the education of both girls and boys, the Taliban regime has denied women this right in the name of religion and culture. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) recently surveyed the health and human rights concerns of Afghan women. The case of Afghanistan dramatically illustrates that education is a health imperative. Taliban policies of systematic discrimination against women, including restrictions on education, undermine the physical, psychological and social well-being of Afghan women. Such discrimination and the suffering it causes constitute an affront to the dignity and worth of Afghan women, and humanity as a whole.