Ministry of Public Health rejects WHO report on 40,000 deaths from heart disease in the country

The Ministry of Public Health of the Islamic Emirate has rejected the World Health Organization (WHO) report that heart disease kills 40,000 Afghans every year

Sharafat Zaman Amarkhel, a spokesperson for the ministry, stated that the figures provided by WHO are estimated and inaccurate, adding that the statistics available with the Ministry of Health are several times lower than this figure.

Pointing to the lack of a recent accurate survey in this regard, Amarkhil called on international institutions to coordinate with the Ministry of Health before publishing figures to prevent the dissemination of incorrect information.

He emphasized that these figures could negatively impact the country’s health policies and limited resources.

This reaction comes at a time when the WHO, in its new report, expressed concern about the increase in deaths from non-communicable diseases in Afghanistan, citing heart disease as the main cause of 43% of deaths.