Musa Qala, Afghanistan: Overcrowded wards of a ramshackle clinic in southern Afghanistan are just a tell-tale sign of the catastrophic humanitarian crisis that has gripped the war-ravaged country since the Taliban returned to power a year ago.

Last month, the Musa Qala District Hospital in Helmand province was forced to shut its doors to all except those suffering from suspected cholera. The hospital was soon jammed with listless patients, intravenous drips needled into their wrists as they recuperated on rusting hospital beds.