The ICRC reports that child malnutrition has increased by 90% in Afghanistan

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Afghanistan, as winter approaches and the economic crisis worsens, child pneumonia and malnutrition cases are on the rise.

According to a press release issued on Thursday, from 33 ICRC-supported hospitals across the country, child malnutrition cases have increased by 90% in 2022 compared to last year, rising from 33,000 to 63,000 cases. Pneumonia cases among children have increased by 55% in 2022 compared to the same period last year, according to the ICRC.

Martin Schüepp, ICRC’s director of operations said, “Afghan families face an impossible choice: To eat or to buy heat. And, really, they can’t afford either, resulting in a frightening rise in malnutrition and pneumonia cases.”