Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said that almost 90% of women it interviewed in the Afghan capital Kabul earlier this year reported a decrease in access to health services since the Taleban came to power two years ago.

The study also says 71% of women surveyed said their health had deteriorated since the Taleban seized Kabul.

Many women had been refused medical treatment because no female doctor was available, or because they had not brought a male relative as chaperone when they sought help.

One described how her daughter died because she could not leave home for help. The mother said she could not afford the all-enveloping clothing the Taleban order women to wear outdoors.

PHR says that a ban on female employment and restrictions on access to health care and education have also caused physical illness and extraordinary levels of stress and depression.

'UN colluding with Taleban'

PHR says the United Nations - which is due to resume talks with the Taleban about the future of aid operations in Kabul - should scrap existing agreements with the Islamic fundamentalists because they restrict female access to health and education.

The group accuses the UN of being guilty of collusion with the Taleban's policies because it has signed an agreement stating that Afghan women's access to health care should be gradual.

PHR's senior health researcher, Zohra Rasekh, said: "The UN has given the Taleban an extraordinary degree of credibility by appearing to agree with its bizarre interpretation of Afghan culture and religion.

"This agreement should be rescinded and the UN should make it very clear that women's access to health care and education must be immediate, not gradual."

The UN has said when it resumes negotiations with the Taleban on Sunday, it will insist that progress be made on pledges to improve female access to health care and education.