Starving kids pack hospital wards: Capturing Afghanistan's hunger crisis | In Pics
India Today
Hospital wards in Afghanistan are packed with malnourished kids as the country faces a hunger crisis with an acute food shortage under Taliban rule. Facing one of its worst droughts in decades, the aid-dependent country is seeing a massive economic crisis because of international sanctions. These pictures capture the story of starving Afghan kids lying in hospital beds while parents cry for help.
Hospital wards packed with malnourished children, parents crying for help, increasing hospitalisations and a deepening economic crisis - Afghanistan is in a race against time to save the youngest casualties of the country's hunger crisis with little hope for help.
Every few seconds, a sick child is reportedly brought into the emergency room of the main hospital in Lashkar Gah as people in Afghanistan starve amid an acute food shortage in the country.
Afghanistan has been reeling from a humanitarian crisis with its people starving due to a significant food shortage in the country. The aid-dependent country has been going to the dogs ever since the Taliban seized power in August last year, which led to international sanctions and a massive economic crisis. The country's economy collapsed as international sanctions cut off billions in finances for the government and many development agencies pulled out. To make it worse, the country is facing one of its worst droughts in decades.
Millions of people are starving in Afghanistan as the country is facing a hunger emergency amid deadly drought and years of war. A staggering 95 per cent of Afghans are not getting enough to eat, with that number rising to almost 100 per cent in female-headed households, a United Nations report said.
“Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis is in essence an economic crisis,” said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Afghans see food in the market but lack the cash to buy it. Health workers are ready to save lives but have no salaries or supplies. Billions have been pledged for aid but remain unspent because banks can’t transfer or access funds.”
The United Nations has warned that nearly 23 million people are facing extreme levels of hunger with children bearing the brunt of the crisis. 14 million kids are at risk of starvation and over 1.1 million children under the age of 5 will likely face the most severe form of malnutrition this year, according to the UN.
