Afghanistan's healthcare system is on the verge of collapse. ACRU's healthcare program focuses on communities most underserved by the formal system — building health facilities, training community health workers, and delivering preventive health education where it is needed most.
Afghanistan has one of the worst healthcare outcomes in the world. Maternal mortality stands at 638 per 100,000 live births — among the highest globally. Under-five mortality is 55 per 1,000 live births. Life expectancy is among the lowest in Asia. These are not inevitable facts of geography or culture — they are the result of decades of underinvestment, conflict-driven destruction, and now the near-collapse of a healthcare system that was almost entirely funded by international aid that has been severely curtailed since 2021.
ACRU's Healthcare Program focuses on the communities most underserved by the formal health system — remote rural communities far from district health centers, IDP settlements without any health services, and conflict-affected areas where health workers have fled. We build facilities, train workers, and deliver preventive health education where it is needed most.
Thousands of Afghan communities have no health facility within reasonable distance. Women in difficult labor cannot reach a skilled birth attendant. Children with pneumonia cannot receive antibiotics. Diabetics cannot access insulin. The physically absence of a health facility is a life-or-death issue for many remote communities. ACRU constructs basic health centers comprising consultation rooms, a pharmacy, a maternity and delivery room, a dressing and treatment room, and staff accommodation — creating the physical infrastructure for primary healthcare delivery.
Each health center construction project is preceded by a community health needs assessment and site selection process, ensuring that facilities are located where they will be most accessible to the maximum number of community members. Construction uses local labor and locally sourced materials wherever possible, keeping costs low and maximizing community ownership.
Community health workers — trained volunteers from within the communities they serve — are the backbone of primary healthcare in rural Afghanistan. A well-trained CHW can conduct antenatal consultations, treat diarrhea with oral rehydration salts, vaccinate children, refer complicated cases to facilities, and deliver health education messages in their own community language and cultural context. ACRU trains CHWs in partnership with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), following national training curricula and ensuring certification within the national health system.
With maternal mortality at 638 per 100,000 births, improving maternal healthcare is a life-or-death priority for Afghan women. ACRU's maternal health programs include: antenatal care promotion and support; skilled birth attendance facilitation; postnatal care and newborn health; family planning information and counseling; nutrition support for pregnant and lactating women; and referral pathways for emergency obstetric complications.
Child health programs focus on the leading causes of under-five mortality in Afghanistan: diarrheal diseases (addressed through WASH programs and ORS promotion), pneumonia (through promotion of exclusive breastfeeding, vaccination, and treatment access), malnutrition (through community-based management of acute malnutrition — CMAM), and vaccine-preventable diseases (through community-based vaccination support).
Prevention is far more cost-effective than treatment. ACRU's health education programs train communities on: handwashing and basic hygiene; safe water handling and storage; food safety and hygiene; recognition of danger signs in children and adults; when and where to seek healthcare; vaccination schedules and their importance; and prevention of communicable diseases including tuberculosis, malaria, and leishmaniasis.
ACRU's healthcare programs do not operate in isolation. WASH programs reduce waterborne disease. Agricultural programs improve nutrition. Education programs increase health literacy. Civic programs include reproductive health education. This integration multiplies health impact beyond what a standalone health program could achieve.
Access to basic healthcare is a fundamental human right — not a privilege available only to those near urban centers or with financial resources. ACRU's healthcare programs are guided by the principle that every Afghan, regardless of where they live, deserves access to basic health services. The geography of Afghanistan's mountains and valleys should not determine whether a woman survives childbirth or a child survives pneumonia.
Food, NFI and cash to crisis-affected communities.
Skills training and vocational education.
Clean water and sanitation programs.
Irrigation rehabilitation and farming support.