Kabul, Feb 23 (IANS): The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has announced that it will support 28 regional, provincial and teaching hospitals in Afghanistan which includes the payment of the salaries of around 10.000 health workers.

In a report, the ICRC said access to healthcare remains a major concern for a vast amount of Afghan people as thousands of health facilities have closed or are not functioning anymore, reports TOLO News.

The ICRC'S Hospital Resilience Project (HRP) "enables hospitals to buy fuel to run their ambulances, ensure power continuity, provide food for their patients, undergo necessary maintenance and more. It also includes the provision of much needed medical supplies to overcome the disruption of treatment of the patients", the report said.

In response, a spokesperson of the Taliban's Ministry of Health said that "we are attempting to find donors and to reactivate the health centres".

In August 2021 when the Taliban took over Kabul, donors found it impossible to provide financing through the new regime, and major funding was withdrawn due to which Afghanistan's healthcare system is on the verge of a collapse, according to the World Health Organization.

Previously funded by the World Bank, the European Commission, and USAID, there are now serious challenges to continuing these vital primary health care services.