بیش از ۹۷ هزار تن در افغانستان در اثر تاثیرات مواد غذایی بستر شده‌اند

The Ministry of Public Health has announced that in the past year, 97,024 people in Afghanistan died due to the direct and indirect effects of food.

According to the ministry’s statistics, a total of 493,068 cases of diarrhea were recorded in hospitals across the country last year.

Nemat Hossinian, a food capacity development expert, said: “Among them, 159 people died within 24 hours, and 147 others died after being hospitalized for more than 24 hours. The main cause of these deaths is the consumption of low-quality food and contaminated water.”

Experts from the Ministry of Public Health’s Food and Drug Directorate stated that they have conducted research on several food items, particularly pickles, spices, foods exposed to sunlight, baby foods, and around 20 other food products, and linked some of them to potential import bans due to their harmful effects on public health, especially that of children.

Abdullah Hamed, Director General of Food Safety, said about food-related risks: “If food is not safe, it can cause viral, bacterial, and even cancerous diseases, and in some cases, death.”

Wali Adel, Director of Food Registration and Licensing, said: “These diseases not only endanger human lives but also cause billions of dollars in economic losses to countries. If we establish an effective food safety regulatory system and ensure cooperation among ministries, agencies, the private sector, educational institutions, and the public, we can build a healthy society. Our domestic products would also gain credibility not only in the country but abroad as well, and exports would increase.”

Residents of Kabul believe that the Ministry of Public Health must pay special attention to the quality of all imported and locally produced food items.

Abdul Basit, a Kabul resident, told TOLOnews: “We ask the Ministry of Public Health to monitor all food products imported into the country so that children do not get sick.”

Another Kabul resident, Mohammad Sediq, said: “We want monitoring over all food products available in the markets so that people do not become ill.”

According to the World Health Organization, 600 million people around the world suffer from various illnesses each year due to the consumption of unsafe food.