World Vision Afghanistan helps children combat malnutrition

Hanzala had barely begun his life, he was just three months old, when he was diagnosed with malnutrition, which was jeopardising his normal development and growth. He was born in a remote village in the Jawand district of Afghanistan’s Badghis province with no health centre nearby.

His health deteriorated even more when he got pneumonia, his tiny body had become frail. His mother Palwasha was helplessly, she could get support from nowhere.

“My economic situation is very bad. I could not afford to feed myself and my child well or take him to a health centre immediately,” Palwasha said. She had lost her husband to cancer just months before, draining what little wealth their family had. Her grief was compounded by the growing desperation of watching her infant son wither away, unable to access care - the only health clinic being 40 kilometres away in Qala-e-Naw, the capital of Badghis province.

An estimated 3.5 million acutely malnourished Afghan children will require nutrition assistance and treatment in 2025. Decades of conflict, climate shocks, and economic hardship have pushed families into deeper poverty. With limited access to healthcare, children like Hanzala often suffer the most.

World Vision Afghanistan opened a health centre, supported by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), in Hanzala’s village. “When I heard that a health centre had opened in my village offering free health and nutrition services for everyone, I was surprised. It was unbelievable for me because we had never had a health centre in our village before,” she said. “I rushed and took my son to this centre.”

Ayesha, a nutrition nurse at the clinic, remembers the first time she saw Hanzala. “He weighed just 6.8 kg, and his MUAC (Mid-Upper Arm Circumference) was 10 cm,” she said. According to World Health Organisation standards, a healthy 13-month-old boy should weigh about 9.2 kg with a MUAC above 12.5 cm.

Hanzala was immediately enrolled in the Outpatient Department for Severe Acute Malnutrition (OPD-SAM) programme. He received Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) and nutritional counselling. His family was also given a hygiene and sanitation kit to improve their living conditions.

Four months later, the transformation was remarkable. Hanzala had fully recovered. No longer weak and lethargic, he played like any other child.

“Without this support, I would have watched my child suffer, unable to do anything for him,” Palwasha said. “This centre relieved him of malnutrition and myself of the suffering caused by my inability to provide for my child’s treatment.”

Since 2023, the FCDO-funded project has provided healthcare and nutrition support to over 183,000 individuals across seven Afghan provinces. For families like Palwasha’s, It is nothing more than an opportunity to save a life.