Over 3,000 malnutrition sites functional nationwide: Dr. Sharafat  

KABUL (Pajhwok): The number of malnutrition services sites in the country has increased to 3,200 during the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) rule nationwide, an official said on Tuesday.

Dr. Sharafat Zaman, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said before the IEA takeover only 800 malnutrition services sites existed nationwide.

Malnutrition services increased three times

Dr. Sharafat said: “During post-IEA rule, basic health services for malnourished children and mothers have increased, and now the Ministry of Public Health provides health services for children and mothers with acute and moderate malnutrition through nearly 3,200 sites across the country.” He said before the IEA takeover only 800 malnutrition services sites were active nationwide.

“The malnutrition services funded supported by the UN Children Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organisation (WHO), World Food Programme (WFP) and it cost $170 million annually,” he added.

Number of malnourished patients declines

Referring to the number of malnourished patients, Dr. Sharafat said: “Last year, some institutions said that nearly four million children suffering from malnutrition existed but at the end of the year when we got the new facts and figures there was a noticeable difference.”

He said this year, it was estimated that there were 857,000 severely malnourished children and two million moderately malnourished children in Afghanistan, but the collected figures have decreased and most of the malnourished children are less than five years old.

He said: “In each clinic, we have appointed health advisors for the mothers of malnourished children to provide them with information on the causes of malnutrition and ways to prevent it, we have also discussed with international authorities to fight this problem and reduce it, hoping that in in the future malnutrition figures in the country will be reduced.”

He said 10 OPD centres for malnourished children were also created for patients.

He termed the provision of health services firm right of citizens and asked the international community to continue supporting Afghanistan.

Why child suffer from malnutrition?

Prof. Dr. Mohammd Arif Hassanzai, who serves at the Andry Ghandi Children Hospital in capital Kabul, said: “Malnutrition is one of the most common diseases among very poor children in poor countries, including Afghanistan.”

He said malnutrition happened due to the lack of protein, energy and minerals.

According to him, three decades of war, poverty, unemployment and successive droughts have resulted in the malnutrition of some children in Afghanistan

He added: “We have a separate ward for malnutrition child patients, which means that our 20 malnutrition beds are never empty of patients, sometimes there are even two patients in each bed.”

He asks mothers to feed their children only with breast milk, which is a complete food, until six months, after six months, give them other food according to the doctor’s advice.

While stressing that these children should not be treated arbitrarily, He considered it necessary to apply childhood vaccinations for children, which prevents malnutrition.

Mothers are satisfied with the service

Humera, the resident of Kabul’s Darulaman locality, said: “My daughter is one year old, she gets weak each day, she also get sick quickly, one of our relatives suggested that we should take it to the hospital, after checkup we were told that the child is suffering from malnutrition.”

“They started treatment for malnutrition and with the grace of Allah things are going well now and my child health condition improved now,” she said.

Hamasa, another mother said: “Our child is three and a half years old, it’s been almost a year and a half since I weaned her, and since that day she has been losing weight and has become stubborn, she doesn’t want to eat and go to bed.”

“One day, our neighbor told us to take him to the Andragandi Children’s Health Hospital. When we took him, the doctor said that he was malnourished, and since that day, he has been giving him nutrition at the clinic near our house.”

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