The Ministry of Public Health on Sunday said that at least 40,000 children under the age of five years old were admitted to hospitals across the country for various diseases over the past month.

According to the ministry, at least 10,000 children have been referred to medical centers across the country over the past week.

“In December, 40,000 children under the age of five years old were hospitalized across Afghanistan and it turned to be around 10,000 children a week,” said Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health.

TOLOnews reporter visited the Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital in downtown Kabul, where dozens of children are hospitalized for various diseases, including respiratory illnesses.

“We could not afford to pay for her treatment. We took her to Pul-e-Khumri city (in Baghlan). Doctors sent us to Kabul. Thank God, she is feeling better now,” said Gul Afroz, the grandmother of Zarghona, a one-and-a-half-year-old child who is suffering from a cardiac problem as well as pneumonia.

“It has been one week that he is in critical condition. We brought him to the hospital,” said Hamida, mother of a child.

Doctors at Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital said seasonal diseases have increased among children over the past two months.