1mn Afghan kids may die unless action taken: Unicef

Kabul, Feb 10: The Unicef has warned that 1 million children in Afghanistan may die of acute malnutrition if urgent action wasn't taken, the media reported. Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, the UN agency referred to the case of a two year old child and said: "Having recently recovered from acute watery diarrhea, two years old Soria is back in hospital, this time suffering from edema and wasting. Her mother has been by her bedside for the past 2 weeks anxiously waiting for Soria to recover."

In the following tweet, the Unicef added that "without urgent action, 1 million children could die from severe acute malnutrition". According to Unicef estimates, 24.4 million Afghans, including 13.1 children, will need humanitarian assistance in 2022. Of this number, 1.1 million are acutely malnourished children under the age of five years due to the food crisis and poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene services.

Outbreaks of life-threatening diseases continue, with over 60,000 cases of measles reported in 2021.
The Taliban's Ministry of Public Health has claimed that the number of children suffering from malnutrition is around 4.4. million in Afghanistan.

"To overcome malnutrition in Afghanistan, there have been some measures enforced to enhance the health sector and also to recruit the international aid to support the Afghan health sector," said Javid Hajir, a spokesman for the Ministry.