Malnutrition among children up by 50%

KABUL: (MEP) – A large number of Afghan children, especially in the remote areas are suffering from hunger crises and the tragedy is increasing significantly.

Based on the report of United Nations, malnutrition among Afghan children had increased by fifty percent in 2013 as compared to 2012.

The New York Times has said, nearly 40 to 50 children are usually being treated each day in the Bost Hospital of southern Helmand province.

Nearly 300 other children, less severely malnourished, are in an outpatient therapeutic feeding program, NY Times added.

Doctors report similar situations in Kandahar, Farah, Kunar, Paktia and Paktika Provinces — all places where warfare has disrupted people’s lives and pushed many vulnerable poor over the nutritional edge.

Even in the capital Kabul, similar cases have been reported. “250 to 300 children are being treated each month in our hospital, said Dr. Safiullah Abbasin, head of the malnutrition ward at Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital in Kabul, Ariana news reported.

“If the patients reach the hospital in time, the mortality rate will likely be zero, but if they don’t, there will be 5 to 10 percent mortalities,” Abbasin said.

The doctors blame malnutrition among children on continued war and immigration of the families.