One Million Children Suffering From Malnutrition in Afghanistan

As Afghanistan is currently experiencing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, one million children are suffering from malnutrition in the country, local media reported on Monday.

“There are three million Afghan children suffering from different diseases among them one million who are malnourished,” The Khaama Press reported citing officials of the Ministry of Public Health of Afghanistan.

The officials further said that there are still 700,000 Afghan women who are suffering from malnutrition along with their children.

Earlier in the month of October, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative in Afghanistan Salam Al-Janabi stated that Afghanistan is currently experiencing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

“Afghanistan now is amongst the world’s worst crises and the needs are growing by the day,” Sputnik quoted Al-Janabi as saying. He added, “In addition to the growing malnutrition crisis and food insecurity, the health system and social services are on the brink of collapse.”

Early this year, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan was already one of the worst in the world, with nearly half of the country’s population – including some 10 million children – have been in need of humanitarian aid, the UNICEF representative said.

“Due to the recent events and the economic shocks the country has been experiencing, more families are pushed to the brink,” he said, adding that “More than half of Afghanistan’s population is projected to face acute hunger as humanitarian needs grow to record levels. As food insecurity spikes in Afghanistan, so does severe acute malnutrition amongst children under five years old.”

The Taliban took over Afghanistan in mid-August and the US military ended its 20 years of military presence in the country.