KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban-run National Examination Authority announced Tuesday that the final medical competency exam for newly graduated doctors will be conducted without the participation of women.
The exam, known as the “medical licensing competency test,” is scheduled for December 28 and will only include male candidates, the examination authority said in a statement.
The decision was made at the request of the Taliban-run Ministry of Higher Education.
Irfanullah Ebad, a Taliban spokesman for the examination authority, said he hopes the exam will eventually be open to female candidates in the future. “The exact schedule for this test will be announced later,” he added.
This comes as earlier this month, the Taliban banned women from attending medical institutes, a decision that sparked widespread reactions.
The exclusion has sparked criticism from female medical graduates, who say this is the third time the Taliban have barred women from taking the “Supreme Medical Council Examination.”
Passing the test is a requirement for doctors to obtain medical licenses and begin practicing professionally in Afghanistan.
Several women pointed to the broader consequences of the Taliban’s restrictions on female healthcare workers, particularly in rural areas where access to female doctors is already scarce.
“The exclusion of women from this exam, combined with the Taliban’s restrictions on male doctors conducting medical examinations for women, has severely damaged Afghanistan’s healthcare system,” said one female medical graduate. “Rural communities, especially women, are suffering because there are not enough female doctors.”
Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban have steadily tightened restrictions on women, barring them from higher education, professional employment, and public life.
