Afghanistan: Surge in measles cases at MSF-supported hospitals

Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams in Afghanistan have reported a surge in measles patients at three MSF-supported hospitals since January. While measles is endemic in Afghanistan, such a high number of cases so early in the year is alarming.

At least one child in Afghanistan has died from measles every day so far in 2025, according to data MSF staff have collected at the Mazar-i-Sharif Regional Hospital, Herat Regional Hospital, and Boost Provincial Hospital in Helmand.

This is almost three times as many deaths as were witnessed during the same period last year.

“These are preventable deaths. Measles can be a deadly disease, particularly for children with underlying health conditions like malnutrition or congenital heart defects,” says Mickael Le Paih, Head of MSF in Afghanistan.

“It can also be prevented by a vaccine, but the immunisation coverage remains low in Afghanistan.”

Community-level rapid and targeted vaccination in the districts most affected by ongoing outbreaks would help reduce the number of measles cases, and in turn free up hospital beds for children with less preventable conditions.

At the three hospitals across Afghanistan where our teams are supporting measles detection and treatment, we have seen 4,799 children suspected of having measles in the first eight weeks of 2025.

This includes both complicated measles cases (25 percent) that require admission to hospital, and less severe cases (75 percent) requiring outpatient treatment.

Case increases across the board

At Herat Regional Hospital, MSF has launched an emergency response to the high number of complicated measles cases that we are treating – expanding our measles isolation ward from 11 beds to 60 beds, hiring additional staff, and tapping into emergency medications.

There were 664 patients admitted in the first eight weeks of 2025, a 180 percent increase in the number of cases compared to 2024.

At Boost Provincial Hospital in Helmand, our team has seen 1,866 suspected measles cases in the first eight weeks of the year, which is a 369 percent increase in the number of cases as compared to the same period in 2024.

At Mazar-i-Sharif Regional Hospital, MSF has treated 1,499 suspected measles patients so far, alongside the Ministry of Public Health. This is a 36 percent increase in the number of cases compared to 2024.

“We are dedicating additional resources, but we are already running out of space for patients suffering not just from measles, but seasonal illnesses as well,” says Le Paih.

The measles outbreak is taking its toll on children and parents. It requires collective decisive efforts to implement targeted vaccinations and enable wide access to measles treatment kits.