* Needs in Afghanistan 'enormous and complex' - WHO
* At least 18.4 mln people need humanitarian aid
* Some health workers have fled, situation 'fluid'
(Adds details, quotes)
By Stephanie Nebehay and Emma Farge
GENEVA, July 9 (Reuters) - Health workers are struggling to
get medicines and supplies into Afghanistan where facilities
have come under attack and some staff have fled escalating
violence, a World Health Organization official said on Friday.
Taliban fighters have signalled they want continued support
for health services in the areas they are taking, the WHO's
regional emergencies director, Rick Brennan, said.
But the situation was fluid and needs remained "enormous and
complex" in a country where at least 18.4 million people require
humanitarian assistance, including 3.1 million children at risk
of acute malnutrition, he added.
Taliban officials said on Friday they had taken control of
85% of territory in Afghanistan.
Government officials dismissed the assertion by a Taliban
delegation visiting Moscow as part of a propaganda campaign
launched as foreign forces, including the United States,
withdraw after almost 20 years of fighting.
"We are concerned about our lack of access to be able to
provide essential medicines and supplies and we are concerned
about attacks on health care," Brennan, speaking via videolink
from Cairo, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva.
There had been 30 attacks on facilities this year, including
a reported artillery attack on a health centre in Kunar province
two days ago, he added, without saying who was responsible.
Health workers in some rural clinics had fled, though others
had returned to their jobs, he added.
"The Taliban are asking through indirect means, informally,
for support for the continuity of health services in the areas
that they are taking ... So I hope that there will be some
stability," Brennan said.
Some aid would arrive by next week including 3.5 million
COVID-19 vaccine doses and oxygen concentrators, he said. They
included doses of Johnson & Johnson's shot donated by the United
States and AstraZeneca doses through the COVAX facility.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay and Emma Farge; Editing by
Andrew Heavens)