Afghanistan’s Health Care System Is Collapsing Under Stress

Hospitals and clinics are struggling to hold up amid a cash shortage and a vast surge of malnutrition and disease. By one estimate, 90 percent may close in the next few months.

KABUL, Afghanistan — Amena, 7 months old, lay silently in her hospital crib amid the mewling of desperately ill infants in the malnutrition ward.

Her mother, Balqisa, had brought the child to Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, the night before. “Her body was so hot,” she said, stroking her daughter’s emaciated leg.

The baby had a high fever, convulsions and sepsis, said Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Sadiq, a pediatrician, glancing at her chart.