Doctors Blame US War as Afghan Child Hunger Crisis Worsens

[xchrom]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/01/06


The pediatric intensive care unit at Bost Hospital in Lashkar Gah. Médecins Sans Frontières helped the hospital nearly double the number of beds in the pediatric wing, but there are still not enough. (Photo detail: Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times)

Despite the promises of a better future for Afghans following the ouster of the Taliban and more than twelve years after the original invasion, humanitarian organizations operating in the country say that a crisis of childhood malnutrition and starvation has quietly continued and is now "worsening."

United Nations figures show that malnutrition among Afghan children has increased more than 50 percent since 2012, with doctors blaming the instability and violence caused by the U.S.-led occupation as the key reason.

According to a new New York Times investigation, most doctors and aid workers in Afghanistan "agree that continuing war and refugee displacement" are key factors in the rising rate of reported malnutrition in children under five years.

Though definitive and comprehensive health statistics are hard to come by in the country, the Times report says that experts are clear on one thing: "Despite years of Western involvement and billions of dollars in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, children’s health is not only still a problem, but [...] worsening."

[geek tragedy]

1. Actually, early childhood mortality is greatly improved since 2001 in Afghanistan.

Of course, the recent setbacks due to instability are tragic, but the causes are much more complex than the standard "US to blame for everything" conclusion that imbues every piece published at Common Dreams.

[Bigmack]

2. So... if the US invades...

... and everything turns to shit....

It's not our fault...?

[geek tragedy]

4. That's not what happened.

More like:

the US invaded, things got better, and now are returning back to shit.

[Bigmack]

10. Like Abu Ghraib...?

More like:

.. the US invaded, things looked better for a bit while the various violent minorities re-organized, rearmed,and recruited.. while Iran sent agents provocateurs...while exiled whackjobs of various flavors came back into the country.

And then, with the US gone, the long-overdue and long-expected Suni/Shi'a/AlQaeda/Whoever civil war is ON.

[geek tragedy]

11. that's iraq in a nutshell. nt

[ronnie624]

3. I wouldn't say greatly improved.

It was the highest in the world in 2001, and it is the highest in the world now.

At any rate, the US has been intervening in Afghanistan since 1979, and it has always been for self-serving geo-strategic reasons. Our government bears more responsibility than anything else for the current situation there.

[geek tragedy]

5. It fell from 130+ to under 100 for under 5 mortality rate (per 1000 live births).

That's a very significant improvement.

[ronnie624]

7. "It fell from 130+ to under 100 for under 5 mortality rate (per 1000 live births)."

What is your source for this?

According to the Swedish International Development Agency, the under 5 mortality rate has not dropped below 129.63 deaths per 1000 live births.

[geek tragedy]

8. World Bank report:

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT?page=2

[ronnie624]

9. I don't trust the World Bank's figures. n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. Yay! Another glorious victory for the Mighty Defenders of Freedom!