Médecins Sans Frontières-Afghanistan has issued a warning about the increasing rates of malnutrition in Lashkargah, the center of Helmand province. They stated that they have treated over a thousand children in their medical centers in the past four months.
On Thursday, May 18, MSF-Afghanistan released tweets alerting to the rise in malnutrition rates among children in the center of Helmand.
The organization stated, “Over the past four months, we have treated 1,061 children in our inpatient therapeutic feeding centers, which is an increase of 32.6% and 16.5% compared to 2021 and 2022, respectively.”
The tweet mentioned, “The difficulties people face in finding well-resourced medical facilities near their homes, combined with the severe economic crisis, are exacerbating the problem. Many Afghans struggle to afford even basic food items, let alone transportation costs for hospital visits.”
MSF-Afghanistan has called on international relief organizations and local Taliban authorities in Helmand to pay attention to this issue.
This comes as several health organizations had previously issued warnings about the increase in cases of malnutrition and child mortality due to preventable diseases.
