Thousands of Respiratory Infections: Afghan children pay the price of Taliban terrorism
Tens of thousands of children in Afghanistan are suffering due to the spread of respiratory diseases in general and pneumonia in particular, due to malnutrition and cold. According to a number of doctors and aid workers in Afghanistan, the economic crisis caused by the Taliban since they took control of the country caused a sharp deterioration in the level of nutrition.
Taliban cause of crisis
The Taliban movement and restrictions on aid workers are a major cause of the worsening crisis, and aid organizations have speculated that the crisis is ongoing and worsening. The ban on female NGOs has led more than 180 international organizations to suspend their operations in the winter months, saying they are unable to work and reach women and children without female staff. Even before that, more than half of the population was dependent on humanitarian aid after the economic shock of the Taliban’s rule in 2021 caused Afghanistan’s GDP to shrink by 20 percent last year, as Afghanistan faces major difficulties due to cuts in foreign aid for development efforts, Western sanctions, and a freeze on Central Bank assets abroad; This hampered the functioning of the country’s banking system.
Exacerbating the crisis
In the same context, UN reports confirmed that the data revealed that more than 67 thousand children were hospitalized last November due to pneumonia, cough, asthma and other respiratory diseases, compared to about 3700 in the same month of the previous year, which was confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which deals – with the provision of support – with a number of Afghan hospitals, that even before the winter months there was a 50% increase in hospitalizations for children under the age of five due to pneumonia in 2022 compared to the previous year, which was confirmed by ICRC spokesman in Kabul, Lucien Christine, saying, “People die from pneumonia this year, including children” adding that malnutrition contributes to the weakness of the immune system in young children.
The number of patients has doubled
Mohammad Arif, head of internal diseases at Gandhi Hospital in Kabul, said the number of patients has doubled compared to last year. The main reason for the increase in cases is economic collapse and malnutrition, he said, adding that the unprecedented restrictions imposed by the Taliban on humanitarian workers are an important cause of the deteriorating situation.
The decline in foreign aid, on which more than half of the Afghan population relied, contributed greatly to malnutrition, especially among children who are more susceptible to respiratory illnesses, Aref said, adding that the lack of heating facilities and the high costs of heating drove citizens to burn garbage to keep warm; This has increased the proportion of people with respiratory illnesses.
