The World Health Organization requires $185 million to reduce food insecurity-related fatalities in Afghanistan

Thirteen million people, or 30% of the population, experience acute food insecurity, according to the head of a UN organization.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday that it requires $185 million to avoid food insecurity-related fatalities in Afghanistan.

“WHO needs $185 million to continue providing medicines and supporting hospitals in order to prevent more Afghan children and women from dying of malnutrition and the consequences of food insecurity,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

Tedros emphasized that 13 million people in the country confront acute food insecurity, accounting for 30% of the population, and that nearly a million children are severely malnourished, with another 2.3 million suffering from mild acute malnutrition.

With weaker immune systems and an impending “harsh winter,” Tedros said that Afghans are at “higher risk of dying from infectious diseases.”

With inadequate humanitarian aid delivery, these figures are likely to rise in the coming weeks and months, he warns.