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 Organization spokesperson said on Friday.
“It’s an uphill battle 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.”
Speaking from Kabul, Harris said temperatures at night have begun dipping below zero degrees Celsius and the young are expected to become susceptible to ailments in colder temperatures.
The Reuters report said the WHO spokesperson did not have exact figures on the number of children who have already succumbed to the difficult conditions, but Harris spoke about “wards filled with tiny little children”
Food crisis has been a major challenge in Afghanistan since the Sunni Pashtun group swept into power on August 15, with a recent report mentioning that Afghans are selling their children to procure food items for survival.
