Report: Mental Health Problems Increase with Ongoing War in Afghanistan

60 percent of the more or less 28 million Afghans suffer mental health problems, according to a report.

The decades of war, the most recent of which is the US-led war has caused more than 60 percent to suffer from stress disorders and mental health problems, officials warned on Sunday according to sources.

"This is a major problem," Suraya Dalil, Afghanistan's acting public health minister, told a ceremony in Kabul on World Mental Health Day. "More than 60 percent of Afghans are suffering from stress disorders and mental problems."

According to Dalil, the picture is particularly grim in parts of the country where government healthcare workers are unable to provide basic services because of Taliban insurgency.

Minister Dalil added that extreme poverty, insecurity, economic problems have been on the rise since war has continued, which are factors that have led to the sharp increase in mental health problems.