Severe Child Malnutrition Cases Rise at Kandahar Medical Centre

Doctors Without Borders’ health centre in Kandahar is facing a rise in cases of severe child malnutrition, a development that shows more children are being referred to the centre in need of urgent treatment.

Officials with the organisation said that from the beginning of January to the end of July this year, 12,530 children were examined at the centre. Of these, 3,450 were identified as severely malnourished, and 1,291 children were also hospitalised because of health complications.

According to the officials, the number of severe malnutrition cases has increased by 28 to 30 percent compared with 2024. They also said that every day, a large number of children suffering from malnutrition and other illnesses are brought to the centre for treatment.

Doctors Without Borders is an international medical humanitarian organisation that provides treatment services in a number of Afghanistan’s provinces. Kandahar is one of Afghanistan’s southern provinces, where residents rely heavily on limited medical facilities to access specialised health services.