Not a record to be proud of

Sixty percent of under-fives in Afghanistan are severely stunted by malnutrition.
Afghan and international experts agree the country’s battle against chronic malnutrition is not over.

Sixty percent of under-fives in Afghanistan are severely stunted by malnutrition.
Afghan and international experts agree the country’s battle against chronic malnutrition is not over.
More children here are physically stunted, unable to remember or stay in school because of the effects of malnutrition than any other countryin the world.
At a regional meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal, recently a senior specialist from the World Bank put Afghanistan on top of the high-risk category.
Officials in the Ministry of Public Health hold poverty responsible for the worsening situation.
Dr Basheer Ahmad Hameed who is in charge of public nutrition in the Ministry of Public Health says the government has introduced many programmes to tackle the problem of malnutrition.
“We have tried (to fight chronic malnutrition) by taking awareness campaigns to the provinces with high malnutrition figures or affected by natural disasters like floods and drought,” he says. “The programmes are also going on for the treatment of under-fed children, and, pregnant and nursing mothers. The children are given vitamin A capsules after 6 months under the country’s anti-polio vaccination campaign as preventive treatment,” adds Dr Ahmad Hameed.
To treat the problem of iodine deficiency as a result of poor eating practices (the reason for endemic goitre in Afghanistan which is associated with cretinism and deaf-mutism) table salt has been iodised under a government programme, he says. “We also want to enrich imported flour and ghee (clarified butter) with iron, vitamin A and D,” he reveals.
Dr Ahmad Hameed wants to see the participation of more ministries and sectors in the Ministry of Public Health’s crusade against malnutrition. He believes the situation is still grim because of “lack of cooperation” in the past.
For the past one and a half years the UN children’s agency UNICEF in Kabul has been working on a draft plan against malnutrition that seeks to involve five ministries including public health, education, agriculture, commerce and industry, and urban affairs.
“It is obvious when we join hands the action would be stronger and more effective,” a UNICEF official says. Civil society organisations will be brought on board in the second stage, he adds.