WHO: Nearly 400 people died last month due to acute respiratory disease in Afghanistan

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that in the last two weeks, 84,000 cases of acute respiratory diseases have been registered in Afghanistan.

Between January 1 to 27, 160,756 cases of acute respiratory infection were registered in Afghanistan, of which 383 people died due to the disease across 34 provinces.

The World Health Organization published a report saying that acute respiratory infections have increased in Afghanistan in the last two weeks, and this is a worrying issue.

“From January 1st to the 27th of this month, 160,756 cases of acute respiratory infection were registered in Afghanistan, of which 383 people died due to this disease in 34 provinces of Afghanistan.

“Also, 62.9 percent of these patients are children under the age of five, and a total of 49.3 percent of patients are women and girls,” WHO said.

The Ministry of Public Health also says the rate of respiratory diseases is increasing, and in the first month of the year, 1.88 million people visited government health centers due to respiratory problems, most of which were children under five.

Sharafat Zaman, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Health, adds that eight million people have suffered from respiratory diseases this solar year.

However, some people suffering from respiratory diseases say that the cold coupled with air pollution resulted in them falling ill.

At the same time, the Political Deputy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a meeting with the General Director of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), requested the continuation of aid from this organization for Afghanistan.
In this meeting, Philip Ribeiro, the head of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), said this organization provided health services to about 700,000 people in Afghanistan in 1402 solar year.