Afghanistan's Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman Amar has rejected western claims on Sunday that the Taliban had effectively banned the sale of contraceptives to women, Sputnik reported on Sunday.

The report in question is one published by The Guardian on Saturday stating that the Taliban banned the sale of all birth control drugs and devices to women in Afghanistan. 

The report further said that the Taliban had done so because it was on the basis that the use of contraceptives was part of a "western conspiracy" aimed at controlling the number of Muslims.

The Afghan health ministry spokesman said that these allegations were all wrong and the decision to ban contraceptives was never made.

"In some cases, contraceptives are part of the treatment and are prescribed by the doctor as necessary after examining the patient's condition. The decision to ban [contraceptives] has not been made, this is all hearsay and allegations," Zaman Amar said. 

The spokesman also rebuked claims made in the report published by The Guardian, which stated that one in 14 Afghan women died from pregnancy-related reasons.

"According to our data, maternal and child mortality in the country has decreased compared to the previous years," he said.

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Women in Afghanistan have recently faced a series of regressive policies since the  Taliban took power in August 2021 after a hasty US withdrawal.

Afghanistan's Ministry for Higher Education said that the Taliban authorities implemented on December 20, 2022, a nationwide ban on university education for females, which is a move that comes just three months after thousands of women sat for entrance examinations for higher education across the country.

"You all are informed to immediately implement the mentioned order of suspending the education of females until further notice," said a statement signed by the Minister for Higher Education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem, delivered to all public and private academic institutions.

Right after the Taliban took over power, universities were ordered to implement new regulations that prohibited gender mixing in classrooms and entrances.

Before this announcement, there was already a ban set in place on girls' secondary education, which had already caused severely limited access to higher education. 

Some officials claimed that the ban was only temporary and that more time is needed to reform the curriculum in accordance with Islamic principles. Another reason for the school closures, according to some, is a lack of funds.

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