long-term health care challenges, access, two of the biggest health challenges the region faced, non-communicable disease screening and treatment, and mental health care became even more challenging to deal with. Non communicable diseases are a major concern throughout the country as a whole, accounting for more than 35% of mortality overall. The rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer are exacerbated by a population that has an unhealthy diet and a high incident of smoking. Providing care for the ill presents challenges in the remote provinces under normal circumstances, as the world bank notes clinics are understaffed and resources are scarce. In the wake of the became increasingly difficult as the population became more unstable. Another long-term health impact of the 2020 flooding can be attributed to the destruction of poorly built housing in the provinces affected. The lack of a stable living environment and deaths associated with building collapses due to flash flooding took an additional emotional toll on a population already ravaged by both uncontrolled COVID-19 outbreaks and war. It is estimated that 50% of the afghan population has mental health issues, with the rural populations affected by the flooding at increased risk. To compound and already poor situation, access to mental health services remains an issue in the country, with less than 10% of afghans having access to services. Lessons learned from this disaster The underlying driver of increased levels of flash flooding in Afghanistan is broadly accepted to be climate change, as changing weather patterns create longer droughts, making the dry land impenetrable to heavy monsoon rains. In addition, the natural and human-created causes that exacerbate the impact of such floods have also been known since at least 2011, when the 'Afghanistan Strategic National Action Plan (SNAP) for Disaster Risk Reduction: Towards Peace and Stable Development' was published. The recommended approach for long term flood prevention in the Kabul River Basin is related to evening out the flow of water throughout the year, rather than reducing it overall, and one proposal is to build a series of dams on both the Afghanistan and Pakistan sides of the Kabul River Basin at an estimated cost of $15Bn. According to World Bank estimates, the projects would have an anticipated annual return of US$1Bn, making the payback period for the infrastructure investment 15 years. In the context of the political reality between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as the recent