WHO raises concern over increase in measles among Afghan children

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday warned that measles is on the rise among children in Afghanistan and that so far this year, at least 43,000 children have contracted the disease.

Of this, 214 children have died in the past three months from measles, WHO reported.

According to WHO, five percent of these deaths are children under the age of five, which is higher than last year.

While the Ministry of Health has not confirmed these numbers, officials have confirmed an outbreak of the disease and reported cases in Kunduz, Kabul and Helmand provinces.

According to health ministry statistics, Kunduz with 1,997 cases, Kabul with 1,696 cases and Helmand with 1,495 cases have the highest number of reported cases in the country.

Officials said they are planning to roll out a vaccination drive in the next few months.

“We have had the most measles cases this year, and we are trying to launch a vaccination campaign by May this year,” said Javid Hazher, a spokesman for the ministry.

In mid-March this year, WHO launched a measles vaccination campaign in Afghanistan. But a WHO official said that the campaign reached only a small percentage of the child population in the country.

He said 1.2 million Afghan children were vaccinated during this campaign.

The World Food Program (WFP) meanwhile recently reported that 23 million Afghans lack food security and that the crisis is deepening, which could increase the number of children suffering from malnutrition and measles.