UNICEF Trains Health Workers to Tackle Child Malnutrition in Afghanistan

Tawazon — The European Union’s humanitarian aid program (ECHO) has announced that UNICEF, with financial support from ECHO-Asia, is helping train Afghan health workers to manage child malnutrition through community based care.

According to the program, trained health workers will visit families and provide home based support for children suffering from severe malnutrition.The initiative aims to treat malnutrition early through outpatient care, preventing unnecessary hospitalizations.

UNICEF has also established 70 Child Development Centers across Afghanistan, providing essential health and nutrition services. The organization notes that many Afghan families, especially those living in mountainous regions such as Bamiyan, lack access to diverse and nutritious food.

This comes as UNICEF previously warned that nearly half of Afghan children under the age of five suffer from stunted growth due to a lack of nutritious food.More than half of children aged six to 23 months are reported to consume only one or two types of food dailywhile a minimum of five food groups are essential for healthy growth.