Prevention, detection and treatment
A partnership to end malnutrition in Afghanistan
In a country where 10 per cent of children under the age of five are malnourished and 45 per cent of children are stunted, the fight to end malnutrition starts with prevention, along with regular screening of children to monitor their growth. For children who fall through the cracks, UNICEF-supported health workers and supplies are ready to provide treatment.
Empowering families and communities with preventive information and supplements
Community health workers like Rahima from western Afghanistan go around their villages, teaching mothers to prepare nutritious food for themselves and their children using locally available ingredients. They also deliver nutrition supplements such as Iron and Folic Acid tablets to adolescent girls to prevent anaemia, and micronutrient powders to children between 6 months old and five years old.
“As a mother myself, I know the challenges women face in my community. I teach them about good nutrition and how these micronutrient powders keep their children healthy,” says Rahima, a community health worker.
The micronutrient powders add critical vitamins and minerals to a child’s food and improve the quality of their diets. This helps to prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies in places where families cannot afford or access diverse and nutritious foods. In 2023, UNICEF delivered micronutrient powders to 2.5 million children with support from the EU and other partners.
Detecting early warning signs
Community health workers also screen children for malnutrition and refer affected children to hospital. Fatima, a community health worker in Afghanistan's central Bamyan province, visits every home in her village, carrying a bag of medical supplies and a measuring tape. She checks children for signs of malnutrition and provides advice on healthy food and if required, refers children for treatment.
Fatima also educates parents about the importance of good hygiene and clean water.
Bringing children back to good health
When malnourished children are brought to hospital, UNICEF supported health workers and UNICEF supplies are ready to help them recover.
Pikay and baby Abdul-Nafi
Pikay, a 30-year-old from Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, has seven children. She, her husband, children and in-laws live together in a compound of 25 people. They rely on her husband and father in law’s income from livestock trading.
“We don’t always have enough to eat but if we can afford potatoes and vegetables for the whole family that is a good day.”
Pikay is at the hospital to follow up on her son Abdul Nafi’s malnutrition treatment. She had trouble breastfeeding Abdul Nafi for a while and he started losing weight, eventually suffering from diarrhoea. He has been in treatment for malnutrition, receiving ready to use therapeutic food (RUTF) and is much better now. Abdul Nafi has regained some weight in the past month and his appetite is back to normal.
Parwina and baby Rashan
Parwina had her first baby when she was just 14 years old. She now has three children and all three have suffered from malnutrition. Two months ago, Parwina brought her last-born baby Rashan to a clinic in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan due to persistent vomiting, diarrhoea and fever. He is out of the woods now thanks to the RUTF he has been getting as well as the feeding advice his mother has received from nutrition counselors at the clinic.
With support from the Islamic Development Bank, Afghanistan Humanitarian Trust Fund and a contribution from King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Center, UNICEF delivered about 16,000 cartons of RUTF to health facilities in Kandahar province, helping over 11,000 babies like Rashan to recover from severe malnutrition.
Across Afghanistan, UNICEF delivered over 90 million packets of RUTF in 2023 with support from the Government of Japan, Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the Afghanistan Humanitarian Reconstruction Trust Fund, USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund, Global Affairs Canada, and European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), The Light Foundation and other partners.
