Afghanistan malnutrition crisis: six babies die daily as aid falls
An ITV special report reveals that six babies die every day in Afghan neonatal units, largely from malnutrition and lack of medicines, while foreign aid has fallen sharply.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
A new special report from Kabul has laid bare the scale of Afghanistan's malnutrition crisis, with doctors and families describing a daily struggle to save the youngest and most vulnerable. In the neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital in the capital, staff say an average of six babies die each day. The majority are admitted because of malnutrition, and many die because hospitals lack even basic medicines and parents cannot afford to buy them.
Three-month-old Zubir arrived clinging to life, his tiny body ravaged by poverty and hunger. Four-year-old Yalda's neck is too weak to hold up her head because her celiac disease is being compounded by malnutrition. Her family sold their only cow to pay for treatment, but that money has almost run out. Another child, seven-year-old Aneesa, has type 1 diabetes and doctors now suspect cancer. Her family cannot afford the insulin she needs, let alone the cancer treatment that may be required.
The report from ITV News filmed inside the ward shows overcrowded incubators meant for one baby but holding three, with infection spreading between them. One doctor said the only thing available in the ICU is milk, and that even a syringe costing five Afghani, about five cents, is out of reach for many families.
The crisis is not new but it has been sharply worsened by the Taliban's return to power. Foreign humanitarian aid has fallen by 70% since the takeover, and billions of dollars in Afghan central bank assets remain frozen overseas. Unemployment has risen sharply, particularly among men who lost jobs when international forces and companies left. Women have also been barred from most forms of work, reducing household income further. The collapse of the economy has pushed food prices beyond the reach of ordinary families, and environmental shocks such as floods and droughts have added to the pressure.
The report also notes the return of six million refugees from Pakistan and Iran, adding further strain to a country where there is already too little to go around. An estimated one million Afghan children are now at risk of death from wasting, a severe form of malnutrition.
In a follow-up segment broadcast later the same evening, the reporter confirmed that all four children featured in the report had survived the night, though they remain dangerously ill. However, five other children who appeared on the ward during filming did not survive. The situation shows no sign of improving, and each day hospital staff are forced to watch children die for want of pennies that could buy life-saving medicine.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | ITV |
|---|---|
| An average of six babies die each day in neonatal units. | |
| Foreign humanitarian aid decreased by 70 percent after the Taliban took control. | |
| Over one million children are at risk of death from wasting. | |
| Six million refugees have returned from Pakistan and Iran, increasing pressure on resources. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
This broadcast led with the emotional and human cost, using close-up images of dying children and anguished mothers. It stressed the simplicity of the solution, noting that just a few pounds could save a life, while highlighting the compounding effects of poverty, Taliban restrictions on women, and the collapse of international aid. The studio discussion after the report explained the economic and political causes.
- “Even a single syringe, which is like, they bought by five Afghani, it's equal to like $0.05. They can't buy that.”
- “We call this an ICU. In this ward, we just have milk. There is nothing more.”
- “Since the Taliban took control, foreign humanitarian aid has fallen by 70% and billions of dollars are frozen in foreign accounts.”
The main evening bulletin placed the report within a broader geopolitical framework, linking the crisis to the withdrawal of US and NATO troops, the exodus of international funding, and the return of six million refugees from neighbouring countries. It also provided a crucial update on the children featured, distinguishing between those who survived and those who did not, and emphasised the role of poverty as the root cause.
- “Poverty is the root cause. Taliban rule has ushered in unemployment and driven out foreign aid.”
- “What also disappeared was foreign funding, humanitarian funding. Billions and billions of dollars of it disappeared out of the economy and pretty much half of the population here are reliant on that.”
- “They are still dangerously ill but they are alive and that was more than we perhaps expected when we were filming. But five children who we saw in that ward did not make it through.”
Broadcast Timeline
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