1 million malnourished Afghan children may die as winter gets colder, says WHO official

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As many as 1 million children suffering from severe malnutrition in Afghanistan face the risk of dying as temperatures drop further in winter, a World Health Organization spokesperson said on Friday.</p>
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The total number of children expected to suffer from acute malnutrition in Afghanistan by the end of this year has been put at 3.2 million. </p>
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"It's an uphill battle as starvation grips the country," Margaret Harris told Geneva-based journalists by telephone from the capital Kabul. "The world must not and cannot afford to turn its back on Afghanistan," Reuters cited her saying.</p>
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Night-time temperatures are falling below zero degrees Celsius and colder temperatures are expected to make the old and the young more susceptible to other diseases, Harris said. In some places, people are chopping down trees to provide fuel for the hospitals amid widespread shortages, she added.</p>
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Cases of measles are rising in the country and WHO data shows the total number of infections has touched 24,000 so far.</p>
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"For malnourished children, measles is a death sentence. We will see so many more deaths if we don't move on this quickly," Harris said.</p>
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Foreign aid to Afghanistan has abruptly stopped with the extremist Taliban group taking over the country in August. </p>
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The economy of the country was already reeling from a severe drought and with the storming to power of the extremist Islamist group the situation has taken a turn for the worse.</p>
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The Haqqani network, who are a known terrorist group, now occupy key positions in the Islamist government as result of which other countries are not willing to recognise the new regime.</p>
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The Taliban have not been matching their words on human rights assurances with deeds on the ground and most countries are hesitant to send aid as there is no guarantee that it will reach those who need it most.</p>
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The health sector is on the verge of collapse as many healthcare workers have fled over fears of excesses from the Taliban regime. The extremist outfit has been carrying out searches to hunt down government staff associated with the earlier government and most of them are in hiding or have fled. </p>