AFGHAN CRISIS APPEAL
‘We’re treating malnourished children and their number is increasing...’
“At the moment, we are the only major hospital in the region that is functioning. There are around 1.5 million people living in Helmand province and the health system across the region has essentially collapsed.
Our hospital is super-congested and we’re incredibly busy. We have 300 beds, but at times recently we’ve had between 330 and 350 patients. That means a lot of juggling and making do, with children sharing beds. It’s not ideal, but otherwise we wouldn’t be able to treat all the patients coming to us. Our paediatric department is overwhelmed. We’re treating a lot of malnourished children and their number is increasing.
Even before the change of government, around half of the population relied for food support on aid organisations, but now a lot of that support has collapsed and many children are going hungry. I don’t think you ever get used to seeing malnourished children. Often they arrive dehydrated and in shock. We work to stabilise them in the emergency room before moving them to intensive care and then to the inpatient therapeutic feeding centre, where we feed them and slowly build up their strength. It’s very moving to see a child who has been so sick and malnourished recover and come back to life. But it’s challenging at the same time, particularly when you know that, even if we stabilise them here and they recover, they’re going to face the same problems – the same lack of food – as soon as we discharge them. But we do what we can and it’s important that we do.
It’s so important that MSF is here. When I was preparing to travel to Afghanistan at the end of August, people asked me why I was going there just as everybody else was leaving. When you’re here, it does feel like Afghanistan has been abandoned – so many international organisations have left. But I’m so happy and proud that MSF has stayed. The people here are suffering and it’s vital for us to be here, providing medical care to people who so desperately need it.” Right now, we are treating people wounded by war, malnourished children, and vulnerable pregnant women. In five locations across the country, our teams are treating emergency trauma cases and providing lifesaving medical care. THANK YOU. 100% of funding for our work in Afghanistan comes from private donors. It’s your support that enables us to continue providing medical care. You have the power to help the people of Afghanistan.