KANDAHAR (Pajhwok): Nearly 1950 malnourished children were brought to the children ward of Mirwais hospital in southern Kandahar province this solar year and 75 of them died, health officials said on Sunday.
They said the number of malnourished children was high but there were lack of beds and other facilities at the Mirwais hospital.
Dr. Mohammad Sadiq, the children ward in-charge, told Pajhwok Afghan News during an interview that they admitted 1734 malnourished children the previous year and 65 of them died and the rest recovered.
This solar year, he said, the number of children admitted to the hospital rose to 1947 and 75 of them died and the rest discharged after recovery.
Dr. Sadiq said the children died because they were not brought to the hospital on time. He said since the Taliban’s coming into power five months ago, they received an increased number of malnourished children because roads were open and people could travel easily.
He said they received and admitted 300 children a month ago but the number of such children decreased to 250 last month.
The number of malnourished children in the province was high and there were few beds and other facilities for their treatment, he noted.
"We have 155 beds for children in the hospital, but at the moment we have admitted 261 children, which is almost double the number," he said.
Siddique said family neglect, poverty and unemployment were main reasons for the high number of malnourished children.
He said there was a need for special hospitals for malnourished children in Kandahar as Mirwais Hospital was operating at the district level and hundreds of such patients were coming from different provinces every day. He also mentioned that they were facing shortage of nurses in the hospital.
Families who have admitted their malnourished children to the hospital are happy to have access to treatment despite the problems.
Zalhaja, a resident of Spin Boldak district, whose malnourished daughter was admitted to Mirwais Hospital, told Pajhwok Afghan News her daughter had been suffering from malnutrition for about three months. According to her, her daughter is malnourished due to hunger and economic problems.
Pashtana, another woman who has admitted her son to Mirwais Hospital, says her son ate dirt at the age of two.
She said that due to poverty, she could not take her child to doctor regularly and thus his illness prolonged and he was now bedridden at Mirwais Hospital.
With the recent decline in the economic situation in the country, the level of child malnutrition has also increased which has made people worried.
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