Afghanistan International: Under the directive, all members of a surgical team must be either entirely male or entirely female, and mixed-gender teams are prohibited. The order states that a patient’s gender will not be considered when assigning surgical staff. The new order has raised concerns about the ability of Afghanistan’s healthcare system to provide adequate and standard medical services under the single-gender requirement for surgical teams. Health sector observers say the country lacks sufficient numbers of female medical specialists, which could make implementing the directive difficult. Click here to read more (external link).