During our outreach activities in a very remote area of Hazarjufft district, Helmand province, we found a family with 11 children. The youngest child was a 13-months-old named Nasrullah. His father, Abdulkabir, was a casual laborer with negligible income. Their house was 10 kilometers away from the health facility and his family could not take him there when he fell sick due to poor health and poverty.
Abdulkabir told our team about Nasrullah when we visited their village. He said that Nasrullah was always very weak and asleep, and he barely moved.
We examined the child and gave his parents information on health education and nutrition required for the children. We also discovered that Nasrullah’s mother had to stop breastfeeding him 6 months ago due to her own illness. She fed him dry bread instead which caused more malnutrition.
Our team provided information regarding the availability of pediatrics services for such cases in the health facility in Hazarjuft. Nasrullah’s parents were then finally convinced to admit him to the hospital’s pediatrics in-patient department. With a case of anemia and malnutrition, Nasrullah was hospitalized for two weeks and slowly started recovering. His parents were very happy with our hospitality and health services and promised to convince the community members to take their children to BRAC Afghanistan’s health facilities when they fall sick.
We aspire to improve the health status of mothers and children living in hard-to-reach areas of Helmand province, and decrease the morbidity and mortality rates of children under-five.
