Malnutrition and Mortality in Kohistan District, Afghanistan, April 2001

Abstract

These data indicate that, by April 2001, a humanitarian crisis already existed in Kohistan. Essential humanitarian services, including food aid and public health programs, are urgently required in such regions of Afghanistan and will be crucial if a worsening humanitarian crisis is to be avoided. For these services and programs to be implemented, the international community needs to create adequate humanitarian space (ie, a secure and accessible location where humanitarian organizations can provide services to emergency-affected populations) to ensure that humanitarian organizations have access to populations within Afghanistan as well as to refugees who flee to surrounding countries.

Probiotics as a help in children suffering from malnutrition and diarrhoea

“…For example, more than half of 10 million deaths among under-5-y old children each year in developing countries are associated with diarrhoea, respiratory tract infections and measles, all of them linked to malnutrition (Assefa et al, 2001). This situation is similar to the one existing 100 y ago in wealthy countries.…”

“…With the recent events, the international community is predicting a severe worsening of the country's current situation (Assefa et al, 2001).…”

Entitlement Failure from a Food Quality Perspective: The Life and Death Role of Vitamins and Minerals in Humanitarian Crises

“…For example, as many as one in seven of those who died in the Irish famine of the 1840s were recorded as having died not of food shortage ('starvation'), but of diarrhoeal diseases, including dysentery (Kennedy et al 1999). 8 Similarly, diarrhoeal diseases were the prime cause of mortality in Somalia during the 1991/2 famine, Afghanistan during 2001, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1999 to 2002 (Moore et al 1993;Assefa et al 2001;Salama et al 2004). …”

Scurvy Is Still Present in Developed Countries

“…2,3,4 The last major documented outbreak occurred in Afghanistan in 2002 after civil war and a severe drought. 5 Scurvy presently occurs in developed countries among poor elderly patients, those institutionalized with diets devoid of fresh fruits and vegetables, and those with a history of alcoholism, mental illness, or chronic illness. 6,7 Scurvy still occurs despite widespread availability of multiple enriched and fortified food products.…”