World News | UNICEF warns of serious funding gap to treat malnutrition in Afghanistan

kabul [Afghanistan]May 11 (ANI): The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in Afghanistan has warned of a critical funding gap in providing essential medical food for severe acute malnutrition in the country, Khaama Press reported.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), tens of thousands of malnourished children in Afghanistan face dire consequences due to critical funding gaps.

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UNICEF Nutrition Director Melanie Calvin said on the organization’s official Twitter account on Thursday that the organization urgently needs additional funding to provide ready-to-use medical food (RUTF) and life-saving treatment for severely acutely malnourished children.

Calvin noted that 875,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Afghanistan this year. According to the Khaama Press, without treatment, thousands of children will be at risk of death.

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Severe malnutrition can be treated with RUTF, a “highly effective and effective” treatment that takes “as little as eight weeks,” Calvin said. However, she noted that UNICEF lacks the $21 million necessary resources to buy RUTF and train health workers across Afghanistan.

“In Afghanistan, we are facing a critical funding gap for ready-to-eat therapeutic foods. Without additional funds to stock health facilities with this life-saving medicine, thousands of children could die from severe acute malnutrition,” UNICEF said in a statement. Special wrote Afghan woman.

This comes a day after the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed concern that humanitarian aid funds in the country are running out, Khaama Press reported.

With enough funding, humanitarian partners can reduce mass starvation, prevent disease outbreaks and reduce women’s chances of dying in childbirth, OCHA said in a tweet.

At the same time, the organization called for timely funding to support those in need. It added: “The cost of doing nothing has never been higher. Timely funding is needed to support those in need.”

The United Nations estimates that 28 million people in Afghanistan need humanitarian aid, a situation exacerbated by the Taliban’s restrictions on women, according to the Khaama Press. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)