Over 3m Afghan kids face acute malnutrition: WHO
‘For malnourished children, measles is a death sentence. We will see so many more deaths if we don’t move on this quickly,’ says official; mosque blast leaves 3 dead
Around 3.2 million children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition in Afghanistan by the end of this year, with 1 million of them at risk of dying as temperatures drop, a World Health organisation (WHO) spokesperson said on Friday.
Aid agencies have warned of famine as a drought coincides with a failing economy following the withdrawal of Western financial support in the atermath of a Taliban takeover in August. The health sector has been hit especially hard, with many healthcare workers fleeing due to unpaid salaries.
“It’s an uphill batle as starvation grips the country,” Margaret Harris told Geneva-based journalists by telephone from the capital Kabul. “The world must not and cannot afford to turn its back on Afghanistan.” Harris said the WHO did not have specific numbers for how many children have already died from malnutrition in the country.
But she said the agency staff was hearing anecdotally of a number of cases and seeing devastating scenes in health centres treating severally malnourished children.
The official described “wards filled with tiny litle children,” including with a seven-month old baby whom she described as “smaller than a newborn.” “It is happening and it is happening now,” she said.
Nightime temperatures are falling below 0°C and colder temperatures are expected to make the old and the young more susceptible to other diseases, Harris said.
In some places, people are chopping down trees to provide fuel for the hospitals amid widespread shortages, she added.
A raging measles outbreak has sickened thousands and killed nearly 100 in crisis-ravaged Afghanistan this year, WHO said on Friday, warning that many more would die without urgent action.
The United Nations (UN) health agency said the outbreak was particularly concerning since Afghanistan is facing surging food insecurity and malnutrition.
Harris stressed the need to urgently scale up disease surveillance and testing in the country, but said that even without sufficient monitoring, it was clear that “a measles outbreak is raging.” “We have seen higher numbers of cases this year and we are seeing new cases every day,” she said.
Since the start of the year, more than 24,000 cases of the highly contagious disease have been diagnosed clinically in Afghanistan, including 2,397 laboratory-confirmed cases.
“Sadly, we’ve had 87 deaths reported,” Harris said.
“For malnourished children, measles is a death sentence. We will see so many more deaths if we don’t move on this quickly,” she said.
The UN has repeatedly warned that Afghanistan is on the brink of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than half the country facing “acute” food shortages and winter forcing millions to choose between migration and starvation.
Separately, at least three people were killed and 15 wounded Friday by a blast at a mosque in Afghanistan’s restive Nangarhar province, a hotbed of Daesh activity, officials said.
No group has yet claimed responsibility.
It happened during Friday prayers in Spin Ghar district of the eastern province, near the border with Pakistan.
“I can confirm a blast during Friday prayers inside a mosque in Spin Ghar district. There are casualties and fatalities,” a Taliban official said.
Walli Mohammed, a local elder and activist, said a bomb appeared to have been hidden in a loudspeaker near the imam’s rostrum.
When the speaker was switched on to sound the azaan -- the call to begin the prayer ritual -- the device detonated, he said.
“So far three killed, 15 wounded,” a doctor at the local hospital said.
In a statement, the Nangarhar governor’s office said they had arrested two “perpetrators,” but provided no other details.
“Further investigation into the incident is ongoing and more actions will be taken,” it said.
In one of the most recent atacks, Daesh fighters raided the Kabul National Military Hospital in early November, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than 50.