The Public Health Department of Samangan reported an increase in the number of children suffering from malnutrition in the province.

According to the department, in 1402 (solar year), more than 700 children were afflicted with malnutrition, and a number of them are still hospitalized.

Usman Hameedi, the head of the Samangan Provincial Hospital, said that since the beginning of the month of Hamal (solar calendar), 64 children suffering from malnutrition have been admitted to this hospital.

The head of the Samangan Provincial Hospital said: "The number of malnourished children who were hospitalized and then discharged after recovery in the Samangan Provincial Hospital reached 716 during the year 1402 (solar year), and we are currently in the month of Hamal of the year 1403, with the presence of more than 50 patients indicating an increase in this disease."

A number of families whose children have been affected by this disease attribute poverty, economic challenges, and irregular nutrition of pregnant mothers as the causes of the increase in this disease.

"Children suffer from malnutrition due to reasons such as poor economy, insecurity, lack of hygiene by mothers, and lack of spacing between births," said Fauzia Kargar, a nurse.

Mahiuddin, who came from a remote village in the Hazrat Sultan district of Samangan province in order to treat his child, said that due to poverty and lack of health facilities in their area, two 20-day-old children in his family suffer from malnutrition.

"We are mountain people; my daughter-in-law became pregnant there, and there is no clinic, no doctor, no nurse in our area, and we could not receive proper care during pregnancy because we are poor and cannot find good things to eat or drink. As a result, two of my 20-day-old children have contracted malnutrition, and we have come here to the Samangan Hospital so they can hopefully get better," Mahiuddin told TOLOnews.

"I did not complete my 9 months of pregnancy when my child was born sick. No matter how much I treated him, he did not get better because I was anemic during pregnancy and had blood transfusions. Now my child is also malnourished; I treated him in Mazar and we are now hospitalized here in Samangan," said Anisgul, the mother of a sick child.

At the start of 2024, Save the Children warned that due to the food crisis in Afghanistan, one out of every three children is suffering from hunger.