Afghanistan International: A shortage of medical staff, particularly female specialists, has become a serious problem in southern Afghanistan. Afghanistan International found no female specialists in Helmand, Zabul or Uruzgan, and only three in Kandahar. Health sources and residents of southern provinces say the number of female specialist doctors has steadily declined during the five years of Taliban rule. They say only three female specialists now remain across the south, all of them in Kandahar. Click here to read more (external link).