KABUL (Pajhwok): Save the Children says nearly 600 health facilities in Afghanistan have closed or suspended their operations due to cuts in humanitarian funding, while nearly one in 10 children under the age of five is suffering from acute malnutrition.
In a statement, the organisation said acute malnutrition among children under five had increased by 14 percent over the past four years, affecting around 3.7 million children in 2026.
According to the statement, child malnutrition worsened in the second quarter of this year in two-thirds of Afghanistan’s provinces compared with the same period last year.
The organisation added that cuts in humanitarian funding had led to the closure or suspension of nearly 600 health facilities, affecting around four million people, nearly half of them children.
Ashish Dhammal, Save the Children’s country director in Afghanistan, said severe hunger, the return of millions of migrants, displacement, natural disasters and years of drought had placed additional pressure on limited humanitarian resources.
He urged the international community to take action before the crisis worsens and to protect the lives, rights and future of Afghanistan’s children.
hz/sa
