UNICEF Mobile Health Teams Reach Children in Need in Rural Afghanistan

In central Afghanistan's Maidan Warnak Province, 9 miles from the nearest main road and 68 miles from Kabul, the village of Alisha has had no access to health care or nutrition support for the past 20 years.
"Imagine what that means for children, women and families. Imagine your child is sick, he's in pain, and you're not able to do anything about it," says Dr. Shafiqullah Safi, a UNICEF nutrition specialist. "That's just wrong. It's 2022. Every child and every mother should have access to basic health and nutrition services."
By the end of the year, an estimated 19,000 children under the age of 5 will be suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in Maidan Warnak.
To provide urgently needed care for malnourished children and others in the community, a UNICEF Mobile Health Team now serves the village of Alisha. The team includes a medical doctor, midwife, nutrition nurse, nutrition counselor, psychosocial counselor and vaccinator.
"A team like this brings reassurance to pregnant women and relief to mothers whose little ones are malnourished," says Safi. "Nutrition counselors can help mothers who are having difficulty breastfeeding. Vaccinators ensure children are safe from preventable diseases."
Local community members welcomed the new Mobile Health Team with open arms.
"If the services are provided, people will come for vaccinations - pregnant women and everyone else," says Jamila, a resident of Alisha. "This is a short distance for us. It's in our own community with our own people. Now, women can visit the clinic by themselves, whenever they need to. Everyone is happy because we don't have access to other clinics. We can't afford it."
Since the de facto authorities seized control on Aug. 15, 2021, the deteriorating situation has pushed an estimated 73 percent of Afghanistan's population below the poverty line - 45 percent of the country has reached emergency levels of food insecurity.
Over the past year, UNICEF has stepped up and delivered programming in Afghanistan at an unprecedented scale. More help is needed.