In Afghanistan, A Free Eye Surgery Programme Goes Dark As Taliban Rules Enter Operating Room

Doctors in Afghanistan say Taliban authorities have ordered hospitals to stop performing corneal transplant surgeries, disrupting a charitable programme that had provided more than 150 procedures and leaving hundreds of patients uncertain about whether they will regain their sight.

The reported directive was issued on religious grounds, with officials said to have argued that the operations conflict with Islamic teachings. However, Afghan media have reported that sources within the Taliban’s Ministry of Public Health disputed claims that a ban had been imposed, leaving the status of the reported restrictions unclear.

Doctors Report Halt To Surgeries

A doctor at Noor Eye Specialty Hospital in Kabul, identified by the pseudonym Noor Zaman Hashim for security reasons, told The Telegraph that the hospital had performed around 90 corneal transplants in recent months before receiving a verbal instruction to stop. A similar programme at Jalalabad Eye Hospital was also reportedly suspended. Doctors said the number of patients awaiting treatment was growing, with many having suffered eye injuries in explosions, other accidents or workplace incidents involving welding equipment.

The programme was supported by the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA), a charitable organisation based in the United States. Since 2017, the association has facilitated free corneal transplants in Pakistan using donated corneas.

It expanded the initiative to Afghanistan earlier this year, where it helped facilitate more than 150 operations. Three Afghan eye specialists also received training in Peshawar, Pakistan, to help build local capacity for the procedure.

Fawad Zafar, who leads the association’s cornea programme and the US-based Zafar Mir Foundation, said the initiative had helped around 10,000 patients in Pakistan since its launch.

The expansion into Afghanistan was intended to address unmet demand among people who could not otherwise afford specialist treatment. Its reported suspension threatens to leave patients on waiting lists without a clear timeline for surgery.

Dispute Over Religious Grounds And Organ Donation

The cornea is the transparent layer at the front of the eye that helps focus incoming light. When it becomes scarred, cloudy or damaged by disease or injury, vision can be severely impaired.

In a corneal transplant, a surgeon replaces some or all of the damaged tissue with healthy donor tissue. For patients whose sight has been affected by explosions or workplace accidents, the procedure can offer a chance to recover useful vision, depending on the extent of the damage and the health of other parts of the eye.

The reported order has raised questions about the distinction between banning the commercial sale of human organs and permitting transplants using donated tissue.

In December 2024, the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice declared the buying and selling of human organs, including eyes, unlawful on religious and human-dignity grounds.

The announcement did not clearly state whether it also prohibited the use of voluntarily donated corneas for medical treatment. The charitable programme described by doctors used donated tissue and did not charge patients for the operations.

Islamic rulings on transplantation are not uniform. The International Islamic Fiqh Academy, an institution of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, has ruled that transplantation from a deceased donor may be permissible under specified conditions when it restores an essential bodily function, including eyesight, and when appropriate consent has been obtained.

It also states that organs must not be sold. This illustrates why the prohibition of organ commerce and the permissibility of donation-based transplantation are distinct questions.

Any prolonged interruption to corneal transplantation would add to the pressures on Afghanistan’s already fragile healthcare system, which faces shortages of specialist staff, limited access to advanced treatment and significant financial barriers for patients.

Afghanistan’s eye-health strategy has previously identified corneal disease and trauma among causes of visual impairment, while noting that specialist eye-care services are concentrated in a limited number of cities. For patients awaiting surgery, uncertainty over whether the programme can resume could mean a longer wait for treatment that may help restore their independence and ability to work.