Afghanistan's Hospitals Are Seeing a Dramatic Rise in Malnutrition Cases

Afghanistan's hospitals and aid groups are wrestling with swiftly rising malnutrition as the country's collapsing economy leaves millions unable to afford food.

At the Mirwais Hospital in the southern city of Kandahar, beds are filled with children suffering from malnutrition, some of them dramatically emaciated, their bones protruding under their skin.

The head of the hospitals' pediatric ward, Dr. Mohammed Sadiq, told Italian broadcaster Sky Italia that the number of cases of malnutrition admitted to the facility had doubled in October, compared to previous months.

International aid groups have been rushing food and medicine to the hospital. But Sadiq said the dramatic jump in cases means the supplies they sent that were intended to last six months are "not sufficient now ... it goes for three or four months." He did not specify the number of cases admitted in October.

Afghan families have been struggling to put food on the table, in part because of a punishing drought, but also because of the meltdown in the economy in which many Afghans have gone unpaid for months and prices for basic goods have spiraled.

The World Food Program and the U.N. children's agency warned in early October that at least 1 million children in the country of 39 million are at risk of dying of severe acute malnutrition without immediate treatment.

At least 14 million people already face acute food insecurity, and 95% of households in a recent WFP survey said parents are eating less and skipping meals so their children can eat. Still, an estimated 3.2 million children under 5 are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition by the end of the year, the agencies said.

Sadiq said the dramatic jump the past month was in part because the end of the 20-year-war in Afghanistan has made it easier for patients in villages and towns around the province to reach the province

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