Afghanistan has been going through a traumatic phase in the recent past. The country has poor economy and hence is resulting in malnutrition not only in children, but also in women and men of the country. The disaster struck country is the way it is not only because of the severe weather conditions but also the disaster man is creating. Due to this, living conditions in the country have been consistently miserable. Reports on the country’s health conditions show that it has a very high rate of stunting in children, which is 60.5% and 50% children suffer from Anaemia. 71.9% of school going children have iodine deficiency in them, whereas in case of women, it is about 75%.
Malnutrition in the country is a cycle. Economically, the country is poor which means that there is very low income in Afghanistan. Due to this, the food intake in people is less and insufficient and people have become infection-prone. The concept of family planning has not been developed in the country and hence with low income the mouths to feed have increased. Due to the poor physical status of the people, the productivity has substantially decreased. Therefore, due to lack of efficient health care and resources, the malnutrition cycle has continued in Afghanistan.
A U.N Security Council report has a startling statistic that states that 25 times more people die from under nutrition than from violence. The food insecurity has curiously received less attention even though it is a bigger issue to handle. The country has the 3rd highest child mortality rate in the world and nearly 300000 children aged 5 and below die every year due to severe living conditions. Afghanistan has been facing. The climatic conditions have made the situation worse in the country. Extremely cold winters and burning hot summers have wiped out the livestock of the farmers in Afghanistan and scarcity of water adds on to the tragedy. The food prices also have increased by 50% which means that food is being catered to only a handful of people who have funds available.
The conflicts of the country with other nations in the past one year have led to the upset of the distribution of resources which not only include land, but also water. The drought struck country has got more to handle than just this issue. A major problem in the crop yield is also due to pests like locusts that come in large numbers and destroy the farms. This has resulted in the reduction of crop yield up to 64%.
It has become important to spread knowledge to the people in the country about hygiene, sanitation, clean water and education about proper feeding habits of women. A step in this direction will lead to decrease in the number of deaths due to malnutrition in the country. The country has been in the situation of war for the past 10 years and 60% of the population are being tried to reach to provide aid. The living conditions of the rest can only be imagined and guessed as these people are literally trapped in the critical areas.
manuhaat singh
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