Qubad Wali Najiba, 24, rarely takes her eyes off her baby, Artiya, one of an estimated four million Afghan children at risk of dying from malnutrition this year.
Artiya’s health began to fail at just 3 months old after a bout of pneumonia. As his condition worsened, his parents moved from one hospital to another in a desperate search for treatment.
“I didn’t get proper rest or enough nutritious food,” Najiba said at Herat Regional Hospital in western Afghanistan, explaining that the strain left her unable to produce enough breast milk. “These days, I don’t have enough milk for my baby.”
The anxious mother, who asked that her surname not be used for privacy reasons, said the family survives on the modest income from an electrical supplies shop run by her husband.
The couple exhausted their limited savings seeking care for Artiya, only to learn that he also suffers from a congenital heart defect, compounding their struggle to keep him alive.
“No one can understand what I’m going through. No one knows how I feel every day, here with my child in this condition,” she said.
“The only thing I have left is to pray that my child gets better.”
John Aylieff, Afghanistan director for the World Food Programme, said women are “sacrificing their own health and their own nutrition to feed their children.”
Artiya has gained weight after several weeks at the therapeutic nutrition center at Herat hospital, where colorful drawings of balloons and flowers adorn the walls.
Mothers such as Najiba, who are grappling with the reality of not being able to feed their children, receive psychological support.
Meanwhile, Artiya’s father is “knocking on every door just to borrow money” to fund an expensive heart operation on another ward, Najiba said.
On average, 315 to 320 malnourished children are admitted each month to the center, which is supported by medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF.
The number of cases has steadily increased over the past five years, according to Hamayoun Hemat, MSF’s deputy coordinator in Herat.
Since the Taliban regained power in 2021, low-income families have been hit hard by cuts to international aid, as well as drought and the economic fallout from millions of Afghans forced across the border from Iran and Pakistan.
“In 2025, we’ve already seen the highest surge in child malnutrition recorded in Afghanistan since the beginning of the 21st century,” Aylieff said in Kabul.
The crisis is set to worsen this year, he said. “A staggering four million children in this country will be malnourished and will require treatment.
“These children will die if they’re not treated.”
The WFP is seeking $390 million to feed 6 million Afghans over the next six months, but Aylieff said the chances of securing the funding are “bleak.”
Pledges of solidarity from around the globe, made after the Taliban imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law, have done little to help Afghan women, he said.
“They are now watching their children succumb to hunger in their arms.”
In a country of more than 40 million people, there are relatively few medical centers equipped to treat malnutrition.
Some families travel hundreds of kilometers to reach Herat hospital because health care facilities are lacking in their home provinces.
Wranga Niamaty, a nurse team supervisor, said they often receive patients in the “last stage,” when there is “no hope” for survival.
Still, she said she feels proud of those she can rescue from starvation.
In addition to treating children, the nursing team advises women on breastfeeding, a key factor in combating malnutrition.
Single mothers who work as cleaners or in agriculture are sometimes unable to produce enough milk, often because of dehydration, nurse Fawzia Azizi said.
The clinic has been a lifeline for Jamila, a 25-year-old mother who also asked that her surname not be used for privacy reasons.
Jamila’s 8-month-old daughter has Down syndrome and is also suffering from malnutrition, despite her husband sending money from Iran, where he works.
Wrapped in a floral veil, Jamila said she fears for the future. “If my husband is expelled from Iran, we will die of hunger.”
