Last month, more than 20 children died in Balkh province from the Pneumonia disease prevalent to the extreme cold weather.
Pneumonia cases are increasing among the children this winter, and 326 children have been hospitalized in December, health officials noted to ATN News.
The Children’s Department of the Balkh public Health Directorate, Nawroz Seberi said that “1,679 children were hospitalized in Qaws (December 2020) of which 326 patients suffered from pneumonia; that shows a 20 percent increase in cases.”
Concurrently, the Save the Children organization warned the country that more than 300,000 children are suffering from the cold and freezing weather crisis which can lead to diseases and worst-off to their death.
The lack of proper clothing and heating equipment is considered to be one of the factors, the organization emphasized.
Chris Nyamandi, the Organization’s country director in Afghanistan denoted last month in a statement that “while schools are closed until March in the coldest parts of the country, this is a serious blow because often the classroom is the only source of warmth for children during winter – where temperatures can plummet to below minus 27 degrees Celsius in parts of the country”, Ariana News reported.
“For thousands of children the Afghan winter is a time of grim survival,” Nyamandi added.
He further indicated that “the situation is bleak for children forced to live in camps in places like Balkh province. It is already very cold in this northern province with overnight temperatures as low as minus ten. But it will get much colder before March”.
Meanwhile, a nationwide polio vaccination campaign has started in Afghanistan as the country suffers from polio disease.
A five-day vaccination campaign has been launched by the Afghan government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The campaign program is expected to cover the vaccination of 10 million children under the age of five across the country.
The Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health said that insecurity in different parts of the country is the main reason, vaccines couldn’t reach most of the children in Afghanistan.
At the same time, as the vaccination campaign has started in the country, the Taliban announced their support for the program after the Taliban deputy leader, Mullah Baradar, met with the World Health Organization and the UNICEF representatives to discuss the polio program implementation in Afghanistan, BBC News reported.
