JP Nadda meets Afghan health minister, reiterates medical support

Medical visas, supply of drugs and CT scan machines figure in discussions between both countries

Union health minister JP Nadda on Thursday said that India has committed to continue health cooperation with Afghanistan after both sides met to discuss future healthcare collaborations between them.

 

The ministry said that discussions between JP Nadda and Afghan health minister Mawlawi Noor Jalal Jalali revolved around medical visas and sending cancer medicines and CT scan machines to Afghanistan, at the request of the Afghan Ministry of Public Health.

 

“The drugs and machine are ready for dispatch and will be delivered by the end of this month,” the ministry added.

 

People in the know told Business Standard that proposals from the Afghan side for a radiotherapy machine and additional medical supplies are also being processed.

 

India has also reiterated its commitment to providing free treatment to Afghan patients suffering from emergency and serious ailments and facilitating medical visas.

 

“Since the launch of the new Afghan visa module in April 2025, more than 500 visas, including over 200 medical visas, have been issued in the last four months,” the ministry said.

 

This comes as India has emerged as one of Afghanistan’s biggest suppliers of drugs and pharmaceuticals due to low-cost generics and geographical proximity.

 

According to data from the Centre’s Niryat Portal, India exported drugs worth $108 million to Afghanistan in the financial year 2024-25 (FY25), a 19.7 per cent rise from $90.19 million recorded in FY24.

 

Nadda added that India has supplied 327 tonnes of medicines and vaccines to Afghanistan over the past four years.

 

India has already approved and implemented several key healthcare infrastructure projects in Afghanistan. These include the construction of five maternity and health clinics in the provinces of Paktia, Khost and Paktika, along with a 30-bed hospital in Kabul.

 

The government is also overseeing construction or upgradation of major facilities such as centres for oncology, trauma, diagnostics and thalassaemia in Kabul. “Additional proposals for health sector support are currently under active consideration,” people in the know said.