International medical humanitarian group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has raised the alarm about the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan's paediatric wards, where their teams are seeing a sharp increase in critically ill children and an overstretched health system on the brink.
Speaking to TimesLIVE Premium, MSF medical coordinator in Afghanistan, Julie Paquereau, described the overcrowded MSF-supported paediatric departments of provincial and regional hospitals in Balkh, Herat and Helmand, as they struggle to meet the health needs of the patients.
“There are often two children sharing a bed in our paediatric wards and patients tend to arrive late at the hospital in critical condition. When there is no space they are referred to another facility or sometimes don't get admitted,” Paquereau said.
She said the cancelled USAID funds to Afghanistan have worsened the situation.
According to the World Health Organization, 420 health facilities in Afghanistan were suspended in February, which means about 3-million people have lost access to life-saving health services.
Paquereau said conditions such as respiratory failure, sepsis and severe malnutrition are common and rising.
She said in Mazar, MSF received more than 14,400 children in the paediatric ER in the first four months of 2025 and as malnutrition peaks, they expect the crisis to escalate.
“There are also high numbers of measles cases, however having multiple children sharing a bed is not ideal for infection prevention and control, but it has been necessary to be able to admit the highest number of children we can to our paediatric wards,” Paquereau said.
She said the number of children under five coming to the emergency room triage at one of the hospitals has more than doubled since 2020, rising from 53,923 to 122,335 in 2024. In April 13,738 children under five were seen and Paquereau said that is the highest monthly number of ER consultations since at least 2020.
She said finding the space, time and resources to treat the children is a challenge.
The collapse of the health-care system in Afghanistan has created a crisis due to funding cuts from USAID, and since then, the system has been underfunded, dependent on external support and lacks the resources to meet health needs.
“Public health facilities struggle with insufficient staff and a lack of basic medications and diagnostic equipment”, Paquereau added.
MSF warned that without urgent funding and international support, more children in Afghanistan could die from otherwise treatable illnesses.
“If the health system were well funded, with more staff, more resources throughout the country, both in cities and in rural areas, then fewer children would die. Especially those with curable illnesses”, she said.
Paquereau added that the situation at Afghanistan's hospitals takes an emotional toll on the medical team and doctors as more patients come from long distances to access health services and the team has to choose which patients to prioritise.
“We also see more patients coming because they know that MSF provides free health care and medication, and patients can benefit from care that they would not otherwise be able to afford.
“As MSF continues to provide free medical care across Afghanistan, we urge support and the US government to resume funding health services,” she added.
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