Millions of Afghans face disaster in upcoming winter

As the following article indicates, food insecurity affects at least 8.4 million Afghans, caused by poverty, high food prices, drought, armed conflict, and the remoteness of many areas. With winter coming soon, they will suffer even more from inadequate diets. The situation is made worse by the general inaccessibility to medical care. As a consequence a large number of Afghans are vulnerable to high rates of pneumonia and respiratory diseases during the winter months. Women and children are especially at risk.

The focus of the US-led military occupation consumes most of the money being spent by the US and NATO in Afghanistan. This unfortunately does too little to confront the potential food and medical crises faced by millions of Afghans. The Afghan government is also burdened by the expense of training police and soldiers, with too little money to deal with the expected crises. A change in priorities from military objectives to humanitarian and reconstruction goals would surely make a positive difference.

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Nightmarish Potential Humanitarian Disaster
http://outlookafghanistan.net/news_Pages/Opinion.html

As the winter gets closer and closer, the parliamentarians have said that government is not ready to combat a potential humanitarian disaster. MPs say the lessons from last year’s bitter winter have not been learnt. With 30% of Afghans suffering from hunger, and 70% living below the poverty line, they have urged the government to send food aid to rural areas immediately. According to Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority, last year heavy snowfall, extremely cold weather, diseases and lack of access to adequate food killed over 2,000 mostly elderly people and children. On the other hand, Health officials have expressed concerns about the spread of pneumonia and respiratory diseases in winter months if people do not have access to medical care. In fact, the people are facing three inextricably formidable challenges that include insecurity, food shortage and diseases. The minister of public health said “Food insecurity has made already vulnerable people even more vulnerable.” According aid workers, millions of Afghans have been affected by high food prices, drought, crop failure, armed conflict and other disasters. The ministry of public health has also said that lack of food and/or poor nutrition has caused deteriorating health in women and children, making access to healthcare all the more important. Earlier, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) analyst Paul Smyth said “While the eyes of the world have focused on violence which is increasingly terrorist in character, an estimated 8.4 million Afghans, perhaps a third of the nation, are now suffering from ‘chronic and food insecurity.” Observers and experts say that millions of Afghans have been pushed into high-risk food-insecurity by high food prices, drought and conflict-related problems. So with the snowfall imminent and with no adequate aid supplies into remote and rural areas, a severe humanitarian disaster remains nightmarish if the no immediate measures are taken.