By Ellaha Rasa
A Farah-born resident has opened a dental clinic in her home province to addressing the pressing need for dental care in the region.
Shakira Kalantari, 27, with two assistants and eight interns, inaugurated the specialized women’s dental care center saying it’s a critical need.
“Access to dental services for women in Farah is extremely limited. Clinics are overcrowded, and the demand is high,” she says.
Raised in the western Afghanistan province, Ms Kalantari pursued her dentistry education at Herat University in the neighbouring Herat province.
Her motivation stemmed from the desire to tackle the prevalent dental health issues among women. It hasn’t been an easy road towards opening her own clinic, she says.
“Despite the physical toll, I remain committed to alleviating the suffering of women in Farah.”
It’s the region’s first dental clinic exclusively for women.
The relatively remote Farah, which shares a border with Iran, has long grappled with insecurity. This has exacerbated challenges in accessing healthcare and education, especially for girls.
Reliable sources tell Rukhshana Media that Farah has five female dentists working in private and public clinics, but four are not officially accredited as they have not passed the medical council exam.
It’s an extremely low number of dentists available to women considering the female population in the province.
Ms Kalantari says all healthcare for women is extremely under serviced.
“Some patients require treatments beyond dental care, such as intravenous medication. However, obtaining such medications locally is often a challenge,” she says.
Zarmina Barkazai, another healthcare professional in the dental prosthetics department, agrees.
“The shortage of female doctors in Farah poses a significant obstacle,” she says, adding that Taliban’s ban on educating girls and women has compounded the problem.
Female healthcare providers are also dealing with gender bias from some male doctors in the province, which can further hindering their work, Ms Barkazai says.
A Human Rights Watch’s report in February underscored the disproportionate health impact on women and girls of the Taliban’s education ban. It raised concerns for the future of women’s healthcare if less women are studying.
The Taliban enforces strict gender segregation rules around male doctors and female patients, which means women are rarely able to access male doctors or receive proper treatment even if they do see one.
UNICEF recently stated that approximately 9.5 million Afghans lack access to adequate healthcare services.
The Taliban announced last week a recruitment drive to train more women in public health institutes.
Based on this directive, recruitment processes have commenced across several provinces, including Kabul, Parwan, Panjshir, Maidan Wardak, Ghazni, Paktika, Logar, Khost, Badakhshan, Bamyan, and Paktia.
