(MENAFN) The Taliban government of Afghanistan has refuted reports from British press that they have implemented a ban on contraceptives in the country, calling it "fake news". The National, a local Afghan media outlet, reported that pharmacies in Kabul were still freely selling family planning products. An article in The Guardian had alleged that the Taliban's Islamic Emirate has begun to enforce a "blanket ban" on contraceptives in the capital and Mazar-e Sharif in the north. The report followed another with similar allegations in The Daily Mail, which cited Afghan outlet Rukhshana Media.

According to Dr Sharafat Zaman Amar, spokesman for the Taliban-run Ministry of Public Health, reports of a crackdown on contraceptives are “fake”. He said that no one has stopped the sale of contraceptives in Afghanistan. The Taliban’s Ministry for Prohibiting Vice and the Promotion of Virtue is normally responsible for enforcing such laws, and its spokesman, Akif Muhajir, also denied the reports and referred to them as “fake news”. When asked specifically whether contraceptives are allowed in Afghanistan, Mr Muhajir answered with a simple "yes".

The reports of the contraceptive ban come amidst the widespread restrictions imposed on women by the Taliban since they took power in August 2021. The British outlets quoted pharmacists and a midwife who had allegedly been told by authorities that contraceptives are a “western conspiracy”. Oral contraceptives and other family planning methods have been in wide circulation in Afghanistan since the previous Taliban regime fell in 2001, and they have been hailed by doctors as a critical tool for the fight against poverty, as well as the protection of women’s health and reproductive rights.

Dr Najmussama Shefajo, a gynaecologist who manages a maternity clinic in Kabul, emphasized the importance of family planning in Afghanistan, saying that "currently in Afghanistan, we have a serious problem with maternal mortality, and family planning is one of those ways to help preserve the life of both the mother and the unborn child."

The National visited three pharmacies in Kabul on Saturday, all of which denied being visited by members of the Taliban or being told to stop carrying any specific medications. One branch of a chain pharmacy in Taimani stated that they had been carrying on with business as usual, and they had not been visited by any Taliban members inquiring about the drugs they carry. Another pharmacist, who runs a small family-owned outlet in the Shahr-e Now neighbourhood, also refuted any claims of being told what to carry.

Doctors at Dr Shefajo’s maternity clinic and another one in the Kartei Seh neighbourhood said they had not been contacted by the Islamic Emirate authorities about contraception. A co-owner of the other clinic also said they were not aware of any such searches or confiscations. Doctors Without Borders (MSF), one of Afghanistan’s longest-standing providers of family planning services, particularly in the provinces of Helmand and Khost, which are considered part of the Taliban’s cultural heartland, said that all of their activities related to family planning run unhindered in Afghanistan.

In summary, the Taliban government in Afghanistan has denied reports of a contraceptive ban in the country. Local pharmacies were still freely selling family planning products when visited by The National. The Taliban's Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry for Prohibiting Vice and the Promotion of Virtue both dismissed reports of a crackdown on contraceptives. The reports come amidst widespread restrictions imposed on women by the Taliban since they took power in August 2021. Family planning methods have been hailed by doctors as a critical tool for the fight against poverty, as well as the protection of women’s health and reproductive rights.

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