Afghanistan Peace Campaign
Humanitarian conditions are deteriorating in southern Afghanistan, where health facilities are facing growing pressure from severe malnutrition as poverty and hunger deepen, the United Nations has warned.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday that hospitals and health centres in the region were reporting overcrowded wards and rising admissions of people suffering from severe malnutrition. It warned that families were facing multiple crises while resources available to humanitarian organisations continued to decline.
The warning comes amid broader concerns about Afghanistan’s worsening food security. A joint assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) published in October estimated that 19.2 million people, about 38 percent of the population could face acute food insecurity during the winter months from November to April.
The agencies also warned that around four million children could suffer from acute malnutrition in 2027, including nearly 1.1 million facing severe, potentially life-threatening cases.
The crisis is particularly acute in parts of southern Afghanistan. In June, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported a sharp rise in admissions of severely malnourished children at treatment centres it supports in Helmand and Kandahar. Admissions in its Helmand centre reached a monthly record high during the first months of 2026.
UNICEF has also warned that hospitals are struggling to accommodate severely malnourished children. In August, the agency said some hospitals in southern Afghanistan were treating three or four severely malnourished children for every available bed.
Humanitarian agencies say poverty, limited employment opportunities, high food prices and repeated climate-related shocks, including droughts and floods, are worsening household food insecurity. Declining international assistance has further weakened the response at a time when needs are increasing.
OCHA has warned that many vulnerable families are struggling to meet basic needs, while reduced funding is limiting the number of people who can receive assistance. Humanitarian organisations have called for sustained support to provide emergency food, nutrition treatment and longer-term livelihood assistance.
Afghanistan continues to face one of the world’s major humanitarian crises, with millions of people at risk of hunger and children particularly vulnerable to the effects of inadequate food and limited access to healthcare.