Afghanistan: Almost half of children in Mazar malnourished

Islamabad (Office of the United Nations Co-ordinator for Afghanistan), 23 January - Action Contre la Faim (ACF), in collaboration with the World Food programme (WFP) has just issued the findings of their nutritional survey of Mazar City in Balkh Province, northern Afghanistan. This follows the recent nutrition and mortality survey condcuted by Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF)/Belgium in remote villages in southern Faryab Province, Afghanistan. The survey indicated a mortality rate among children under five of 5.2 per 10,000 per day.
The ACF survey in Mazar analysed both acute and chronic malnutrition among a random sample of children under five. Acute malnutrition--a sudden onset condition that can be brought on by illness--is almost ten percent among children under thirty months.

Chronic malnutrition, as the name implies, is a long-term problem, which is caused by prolonged poor diet and regular illnesses. The overall rate of chronic malnutrition among children surveyed was 48%, and of severe malnutrition, almost 20%. Chronic malnutrition prevents children from developing fully both physically and mentally, and makes them more likely to fall ill due to a weakened immune system. Severe malnutrition requires immediate medical attention because children in such a weakened state are highly vulnerable to killer diseases.

High rates of chronic malnutrition are increasingly common and widespread in Afghanistan due to extreme poverty.

The survey also found that 8.8% of the children surveyed were newly displaced into Mazar since summer 2000 by a combination of drought, fighting, or poverty. However, these recently displaced children were no more at risk of malnutrition than a non-displaced child, which may be indicative of widespread nutrional problems among children in general.

As alarming as these figures are, they are "low" compared to other cities in Afghanistan, such as Kandahar and Kabul, where severe malnutrition affects over one-quarter of children under five and where global malnutrition rates range between 50% and 60%. The survey team attributed the relatively "low" rate of malnutrition in Mazar to several factors. For one thing, the survey was done after the diarrhoea season in summer, so malnutrition rates were probably lower than they would have been earlier this year. Moreover, while drought decreased cereal production, and can cause a rise in food prices, the team believed that price rises might have been too recent to be reflected, yet, in children's nutritional status.

The situation will therefore probably dramatically worsen in coming months as family reserves grow thin and children become weaker.

The report called for more attention to be paid to the problem of chronic malnutrition, which indicates poor quality of food and vulnerability to diseases. In times of crisis--such as the current drought--children's nutritional status is likely to deteriorate quickly due to their underlying vulnerability. By the time these children become severely malnourished, it is too late to respond adequately.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been accelerating food aid distribution throughout the country including the Mazar area, straining their already limited resources. WFP plans to distribute more than 20,000 tons of food a month, which means that their stocks will be exhausted by April. With the accelerated pace of food distribution to help the seriously drought-affected population during the harsh winter months and due to large displacement of people in search of food and due to the recent fighting, WFP now estimates that it will need 172,000 tonnes of food, worth more than USD 80 million, to continue its emergency operations for another year starting April 2001.

For further information, please contact: Stephanie Bunker, Office of the UN Co-ordinator for Afghanistan, 2211451 x 415; 0320 261325; Khaled Mansour, World Food Programme, 2271165.