Child malnutrition in Afghanistan amid a deepening humanitarian crisis
Zainab Syyeda Rahmat, Hania Mansoor Rafi, Arsalan Nadeem, Yumna Salman, Faisal A. Nawaz, Mohammad Yasir Essar
Abstract
Decades of political turmoil and stifling war, among other issues, has turned Afghanistan into the world's largest humanitarian crisis. Just 4 months after the Taliban seized control, the majority of the Afghan population face starvation, with >3.3 million children unable to afford basic food resources, leading to dozens of deaths every week. Restrictions on humanitarian assistance, withholding of vital food supplies and inadequate medical care play a major role in exacerbating the rates of malnutrition in the vulnerable paediatric population. Global interference is warranted to avoid unfathomable consequences in mitigating this public health catastrophe.