Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health has said that it has created hundreds of new centers for the treatment of children with severe malnutrition across the country. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) in an interview with The Kabul Times correspondent has rejected the UN recent report on increasing malnutrition cases in the country.
“Fortunately, the number of malnourished children is not as high as the number of malnourished children estimated by international organizations and the Ministry of Public Health of Afghanistan at the beginning of the year.
. The UN recent report on increasing cases of malnourished children is not based on documents and evidence,” said Dr. Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the ministry of public health.
Dr. Zaman added that nearly half a million women are suffering from moderate malnutrition, and the UN recent report on increasing cases of women with malnutrition is incorrect.
The World Food Program in its recent report has said that 875,000 children are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and 2.3 million children as well as 840,000 women from moderate acute malnutrition in 2023 in Afghanistan. According to the report, if Afghanistan enters a third year of drought, the nutrition situation could deteriorate by a further 20%.
“Live-saving food assistance continues across Afghanistan where it is possible, and Afghan women continue to access assistance and distribution sites, where it is safe for them to do. In the first two weeks of January, the UN and its partners have been able to reach nearly 1.4 million people across the country.
This includes nutrition services for malnourished children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers who are at the sharp end of the hunger crisis,” the report added.
On the other hand, the ministry of public health has said that Afghanistan has witnessed 0.5 million children with severe malnutrition and 1.1 million children with moderate malnutrition in the past one year.
“Nearly 800 new centers both inpatient therapeutic feeding ambulatory therapeutic feedings centers have been created for the treatment of children with severe and moderate malnutrition across the country,” the MoPH spokesperson said, adding that the centers are still operating in the country.
The country’s ministry of public health has called on all international health organizations operating in the country to pay attention to the treatment of the country’s malnourished children and women, which has changed to a big challenge in recent years.
It is worth mentioning that the UN OCHA in its report released in late December 2022 said that Afghanistan is on a cliff edge. According to the report, a record 28.3 million people – some two-thirds of the population – will require humanitarian and protection assistance in 2023.
That’s up from 24.4 million people in 2022 and 18.4 million in early 2021. Some 20 million people face acute hunger by the end of March 2023, and malnutrition rates remain extremely high, with 4 million children and women facing acute malnutrition.
Samiullah Momand
Hundreds of new health facilities to treat children with malnutrition
