Nearly 34,000 Afghan children die of malnutrition annually

KABUL (Pajhwok): Officials of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) on Tuesday said 2.2 million children in the country suffered from moderate to severe malnutrition and one million from acute malnutrition.

On the other hand, 928 cases of children’s malnutrition have been registered in Indira Gandhi and Ataturk hospitals alone in the capital Kabul.

In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, Dr. JavedHajir, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, said that 3.2 million children were currently malnourished across the country.

Of these children, 2.2 million were moderately malnourished and a million others were severely malnourished, he said.

Hajir said that about 75,000 children died of various diseases every year, of which 45 percent died due to malnutrition.

Poverty, unemployment, poor diet, frequent births and other factors contributed to malnutrition, he said.

"We are trying to provide better health care to the people and also raise public awareness about breastfeeding to reduce malnutrition," Hajir said, adding that the ministry has talked with the World Health Organization (WHO) to increase its assistance in reducing child malnutrition.

Dr Mohammad ArifHassanzai, a professor of nutrition at the Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul, told Pajhwok that 501 children had been admitted to the hospital for malnutrition last year.

However, he says so far in the first ten months of this year, 727 malnourished children have been registered with them.

In the past, some clinics in the provinces were providing services in the field of prevention and treatment of malnutrition, but now these services are stopped, he said.

"When a country's economy deteriorates, the level of malnutrition rises, despite we have limited resources this year, we are trying to reach out to all malnourished patients,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ghulam Hassan Kamil, head of Ataturk Children's Hospital, told Pajhwok that 287 malnourished children were admitted to the hospital last year.

However, he said that they have registered 201 malnourished children this outgoing year.

Malnutrition is a dangerous and deadly disease for children that can make children’s life vulnerable in the future even if they are treated.

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