Islamabad: Defying political tensions and visa hurdles, a team of five Pakistani female surgeons led by Dr. Shershah Syed traveled to Kabul this month to perform life-changing surgeries on Afghan women suffering from obstetric fistula—a devastating childbirth injury that continues to ruin lives in silence across Afghanistan.
Fistula, a tear between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum, typically caused by prolonged, obstructed labor without timely medical intervention, leaves women incontinent, socially ostracized, and often divorced or abandoned.
It is a condition that epitomizes neglect, poverty, and a failed maternal healthcare system. In Afghanistan, with its fragile health infrastructure and ongoing restrictions on women’s education and mobility, fistula has become an even more silent epidemic.
The recent surgical camp held at Kabul’s Cure Hospital was the outcome of a meeting last year in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where international and regional stakeholders, including representatives of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Fistula Foundation, and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), came together to find practical ways to support Afghan women amidst an escalating healthcare crisis.
With most trained fistula surgeons having fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, the camp was designed not only to treat existing patients but also to train new local female surgeons in the critical surgical techniques required for fistula repair.
Visa restrictions between Pakistan and Afghanistan—now at their worst in decades—made the mission particularly challenging. Afghan patients can no longer travel easily to Karachi’s Koohi Goth Hospital, a globally recognized center for fistula care. Instead, the Pakistani team had to obtain special paper visas arranged with the help of Afghan educator and telemedicine pioneer Abdullah Butt.
According to Dr. Shershah Syed, their entry into Kabul was unexpectedly warm: the visa officers and airport staff, representing a government often criticized for its treatment of women, expressed genuine gratitude to the visiting doctors.
The mission suffered a blow just before departure when Dr. Ambreen, one of the leading Pakistani surgeons expected to join from New York, informed the team that she had been redirected by the UN to Palestine’s Gaza Strip. Tragically, a colleague of hers was later killed in an Israeli airstrike. “We all salute Ambreen for her courage and commitment,” said Dr. Syed, who accompanied the team and documented their journey.
Despite the difficult backdrop, Kabul surprised the visitors. From a sky-lit aerial view to bustling, brightly lit streets and markets below, the city stood in stark contrast to war-torn stereotypes. At Cure Hospital, the team was greeted with a traditional Afghan breakfast before beginning surgeries.
They found Afghan midwives—locally called Qabla—highly competent but severely limited in opportunities due to the Taliban’s ban on female education and midwifery training. Young female doctors eagerly questioned the Pakistani team about training in Pakistan, particularly pursuing FCPS in obstetrics and gynecology, but lamented that obtaining a Pakistani visa now costs as much as $1,200—a price many simply cannot afford.
The team also engaged in discussions on gender-based violence with Afghan healthcare staff. While Afghan doctors acknowledged instances of such violence, they claimed that justice is more swiftly delivered under the current regime than in neighboring Pakistan—a surprising but recurring theme in the candid exchanges.
The Pakistani Consulate in Kabul hosted the team for a dinner amid tight security, where Consul General Obaid Nizamani, a survivor of a Daesh suicide bombing attempt, assured the doctors he would personally facilitate easier visa access for Afghan patients and medical staff at Cure Hospital in future.
This visit, against a backdrop of complex geopolitics, visa hurdles, and mutual mistrust, was more than a medical mission. It was a gesture of humanity and healing in a region divided by history, war, and politics. While the surgeries may have repaired physical wounds, the presence of these Pakistani doctors—women helping women—offered a glimmer of hope in a place where it is needed most.
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