Children succumb to pneumonia as health system collapses

KABUL (Khaama Press): Pneumonia cases have spiked in Afghanistan, leaving an untold number of children dead due to the lack of healthcare facilities in the country, Save the Children, a leading humanitarian organization for children, said.
“Child pneumonia is surging in the middle of a hunger crisis that is ravaging young immune systems,” the organization said in a statement. “The collapse of the health system, driven largely by frozen financial assets and withdrawn aid, comes at a deadly cost for Afghan children.” According to one doctor at a hospital, he had never seen so many cases of child pneumonia and severe malnutrition. He said 135 children had died in or on their way to the hospital last December.
The statement noted that “clinics across the country have been forced to close as wages for health workers have dried up” and that “crumbling health services is one of the direct impacts of global assets freezes and suspended development aid, both of which are choking the healthcare system.” In addition, the aid agency called on the international community to unlock vital funding.