Afghanistan hospitals face mounting pressure as child malnutrition rises
FOOD INSECURITY / MALNUTRITION
Situation
Afghanistan's child nutrition emergency is placing severe pressure on hospitals and community services. UNICEF reported that 3.7 million children are experiencing wasting, including around one million with life-threatening severe acute malnutrition. More than 500,000 children have been admitted for high-risk moderate or severe wasting since the beginning of 2026. Hospital admissions involving severe acute malnutrition and medical complications increased from 6,000 by July 2025 to 8,000 by July 2026, a rise of about one third. The youngest children face the greatest danger: nearly 40 per cent of complicated hospital admissions involve babies younger than six months, while children under two account for 83 per cent of severe acute malnutrition cases. Some southern hospitals are treating three or four severely malnourished children for each available bed. The crisis is being intensified by food poverty, drought, destructive rainfall and flash floods, large-scale returns and reduced humanitarian funding. More than 100 severe-wasting treatment sites have closed compared with 2025, while Afghanistan's Nutrition Sector response has a 57 per cent funding gap.
Verified figures
- Children experiencing wasting
- 3.7 million
- Children with severe acute malnutrition
- Around 1 million
- Children admitted during 2026
- >500,000
- Complicated severe-malnutrition admissions
- 8,000 by July 2026
- Increase from July 2025
- One third
- Complicated admissions aged under six months
- Nearly 40%
- Severe cases aged under two
- 83%
- Children per available hospital bed in some southern facilities
- 3–4
- Children living in severe food poverty
- 50%
- People returning since 2023
- 6 million
- Severe-wasting treatment sites closed
- >100
- Nutrition Sector funding gap
- 57%
- UNICEF nutrition programme requirement
- US$180 million
- UNICEF nutrition programme funded
- 22%
Provenance
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