Babies in Afghanistan are starving as 95% struggle to get food

ITV News Correspondent John Ray reports on the dire situation families are facing

Afghanistan is on the verge of disaster as hospitals run out of medication, malnutrition spreads among its children and 95% of the population struggle to get enough food.

ITV News gained access to Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital in Kabul - the best facility of its kind in the country - and saw first-hand the near-impossible situation the medical staff have to deal with.

The majority of new patients are suffering from malnutrition-related illnesses and had come from far corners of the country to the hospital with the hope of receiving proper medical treatment.

But the hospital is barely able to function, it is almost entirely out of medicine. Its few staff are overworked and all its access to aid has dried up since the Taliban took over the country.

Doctors at the hospital said their wages have not been paid for four months, combined with the fact women are no longer allowed to work many medical facilities are suffering from a severe staff shortage.

Since the Taliban takeover, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has only got worse.

Before the takeover, the country had one of the highest poverty rates in the world and the UN now believes 97% of Afghans will be living below the poverty line next year.

UNICEF told ITV News they know three out of every four Afghan families are struggling to get food on the table.

With the regime change, many people lost their jobs as international businesses, charities and NGOs fled the country.

Most foreign aid, which used to contribute a sizable amount to the countries GDP, has also been frozen since the Taliban took over.

UNICEF believes two-thirds of health clinics in the country are currently inoperable.