Some families in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province say their children are suffering from severe malnutrition as deepening poverty and hunger leave them unable to provide adequate food or access medical care.
Residents said infants and young children were falling ill as families struggle to afford basic nutrition, while free public health services in some areas have become limited or unavailable.
A father in Helmand’s Nad Ali district said his 10-day-old baby weighed about two kilograms, below the normal range for newborns, and was diagnosed with severe malnutrition. He said the family had no food at home and could not afford milk or medical treatment.
“There is nothing in our house — not even a kilo of flour,” the father said. “The mother has no milk, and I have no money to buy formula.”
Other residents said the closure or reduced operation of free clinics in rural areas had worsened the situation, leaving families unable to treat malnourished children or travel to urban hospitals due to high costs.
“Since the clinics closed, our problems have multiplied,” said a resident of Nad Ali. “We can’t take patients to the city, and there is no treatment here.”
Humanitarian organisations and United Nations agencies have repeatedly warned that child malnutrition is rising sharply across Afghanistan as poverty deepens and access to food and health care remains limited.
According to UN estimates, more than 3.5 million children in the country are suffering from acute malnutrition, including hundreds of thousands at risk of life-threatening complications.
