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Acute malnutrition is affecting around 0.4 million children who are under the age of 5, more than half of all children aged 6-59 months in the 14 drought affected districts of Balochistan, making it a major public health problem in these districts. Of the 14 drought affected districts, 1 district has Extremely Critical levels of acute malnutrition (IPC AMN Phase 5) while 11 have Critical levels of acute malnutrition (IPC AMN Phase 4) and 2 are in Phase 3 with Serious levels of acute malnutrition according to the IPC AMN scale. Around 396,000 of the approximately 738,000 children of age 6-59 months are suffering from acute malnutrition during the drought period of May – August 2019.
Panjgur district is affected by Extremely Critical levels of acute malnutrition and is classified as being in the highest Phase of 5, according to the IPC AMN scale, where about 1 in 3 children under the age of 5 are suffering from acute malnutrition. Although 11 other districts have Critical levels of acute malnutrition (IPC AMN Phase 4), Kachhi, Pishin, Jhal Magsi and Dera Bugti districts have acute malnutrition levels that are close to IPC AMN Phase 5 thresholds. Awaran and Gwadar districts have Serious levels (IPC AMN Phase 3) of acute malnutrition.
Although information on several contributing factors is limited, available information suggests that very poor quality and quantity of food consumed by children and high acute food insecurity are major problems across all the 14 districts. Poor water and sanitation conditions and sub-optimal feeding practices (particularly exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding) are major issues in most of the drought affected districts in Balochistan. Low vaccination coverage is also of concern in several districts.