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Iraq health care 'in deep crisis'
Iraq's health system is in a far worse condition than before the war, a British medical charity says.
Doctors from the group Medact conducted surveys with international aid groups and Iraqi health workers in September.
They exposed poor sanitation in many hospitals, shortages of drugs and qualified staff and huge gaps in services for mothers and children.
Medact, which monitors healthcare in post-conflict areas, called for an inquiry into the situation.
It has also challenged the British government to set up a commission to establish the level of civilian casualties in Iraq.
Damaged hospitals
"The war is a continuing public health disaster that was predictable - and should have been preventable," the group says.
"Excess deaths and injuries and high levels of illness are the direct and indirect results of ongoing conflict."
Groups like the medical charity Merlin and the UN aid organisation Unicef were among those whose staff provided information.
They paint a picture of a health service struggling to cope and, because of the continuing violence, a population often afraid to leave their homes to seek medical help.
Twelve percent of Iraq's hospitals were damaged during the war and the country's two main public health laboratories were also destroyed, the report says.
However, Iraq's deputy prime minister Barham Saleh told reporters in London that the health situation in Iraq was "not good" but it was improving not deteriorating.
He said "the level of devastation that Saddam Hussein has left us with was unimaginable" and added that health budgets were increasing.
UK foreign secretary Jack Straw pointed out that since the conflict 95% of children under five had been immunised, some 150 primary health care centres were planned and a string of hospitals in the south of the country had been renovated.
He said the great mistake the report made was blaming any problems with healthcare on the Iraqi government and health ministry rather than terrorists and insurgents.
"In those many areas of Iraq where there are no terrorists and no insurgents there is no problem whatsoever with the delivery of health care."
Medact accuses the UK and US governments and Iraqi authorities of denying "the true extent of harm" to Iraq's civilians.
It also says health relief and reconstruction efforts have been bungled through mismanagement and corruption.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4054105.stm
Last year's US-led invasion of Iraq has caused a dramatic deterioration in the health of the Iraqi people, according to a new report.
Medact, a UK-based medical charity, said on Tuesday that the ongoing conflict had led - directly and indirectly - to many thousands of deaths and injuries, and high levels of illness.
The charity blames Iraq's predicament on conflict, criminality, social inequality, lack of democracy, political instability, the presence of foreign forces and decrepit essential infrastructure.
It says there has been an alarming recurrence of previously well-controlled communicable diseases including diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections and typhoid, particularly among children.
There is also a greater burden of non-communicable disease, but a lack of resources, facilities and expertise to reverse the trend.
The likely consequence, says Medact, will be further preventable death and disability.
"The 2003 war exacerbated the threats to health posed by the damage inflicted by previous wars, tyranny and [US-sponsored UN] sanctions. It not only created the conditions for further health decline, but also damaged the ability of Iraqi society to reverse it," the report said.
Health relief 'mismanaged'
Behavioural problems such as family violence, child and spouse abuse and acts of public violence greatly increase in conflict and post-conflict situations, says Medact.
And the effects of the psychosocial trauma suffered by the Iraqi people create preconditions for further violence.
Medact director Mike Rowson said Iraqis increasingly rely on self-diagnosis and traditional healing, and buy prescription medicines in the marketplace.
Under-the-table payments are required to secure many services, and there is widespread suspicion of criminal involvement in the distribution of pharmaceutical supplies.
The UN, traditionally responsible for coordinating humanitarian crisis responses, has been marginalised, said Rowson, while US assistance has been characterised by damaging political in-fighting.
Moreover, aid and development workers run great risks and most humanitarian agencies have left central and southern Iraq, which remains largely a war zone.
"Health relief and reconstruction efforts have been mismanaged so far," said Rowson.
Independent health commission
"The UK government could play a bigger role in supporting the Iraqi authorities to provide emergency relief and build a better health system.
"Decisive action is needed to halt this health disaster -immediate help for civilians whose health is at risk, urgent assessment of their health needs, and the establishment of an independent inquiry into the state of the population's health."
The charity says that the US and UK authorities continue to deny the true extent of harm to the Iraqi population.
It recommends that an independent commission should make a thorough investigation of casualties and the state of health in Iraq.
Foreign forces should also monitor casualties, re-evaluate the impact of weaponry in populated areas, comply with the Geneva Conventions, and ensure health services are accessible to civilians in conflict areas.
The report follows a recent scientific study which said that more than 100,000 Iraqis might have died since the 2003 invasion - mostly from violence, mainly air strikes.
Most of those reportedly killed by foreign forces were women and children, according to the British medical journal The Lancet.
Parlous health system
Many thousands of conflict-related injuries were also sustained.
However, The United States Agency for International Development (USAid), which oversees Iraqi redevelopment, says it has revived Iraq's run-down health system since the invasion.
It says it has done this by refurbishing health clinics, repairing sewerage systems, and through vaccination campaigns and delivering medicines.
Health spending has reached 60 times pre-war levels, according to USAid.
The organisation blames the parlous state of Iraq's health system on neglect and mismanagement during the Saddam years.
Aljazeera + Agencies
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/30C967C7-5AD5-4FB7-945B-A7B64254CF86.htm
War in Iraq has caused a public health disaster that has left the country's medical system in tatters and increased the risk of disease and death, according to a report by Britain-based charity Medact.
Medact, which examines the impact of war on health, says cases of vaccine-preventable diseases are rising, and relief and reconstruction work had been mismanaged.
"The health of the Iraqi people has deteriorated since the 2003 invasion," Gill Reeve, the deputy director of Medact, said.
"Immediate action is needed to halt this health disaster."
The report is based on interviews in Jordan with Iraqi civilians, relief organisations and health professionals who worked in Iraq.
It calls for Britain to set up an independent commission to investigate civilian casualties and to provide emergency relief and a better health system.
"The 2003 war exacerbated the threats to health posed by the damage inflicted by previous wars, tyranny and sanctions," the report said.
"It not only created the conditions for further health decline, but also damaged the ability of Iraqi society to reverse it."
Iraq had high mortality before the 2003 war.
The report details a recurrence of previously well-controlled illnesses like diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections and typhoid.
Post-war security worries limit access to health care, particularly in flashpoint areas.
The quality of health services is poor because of chronic under-funding, poor physical infrastructure, mismanagement of supplies and staff shortages.
The report says that one in four people in Iraq still depend on food aid and more children are underweight or chronically malnourished than in 2000.
"Maintaining adequate care is a real problem," Mike Rowson, the executive director of Medact, said.
Iraqis increasingly rely on self-diagnosis and traditional healing and buy prescription medicines in the marketplace.
"The UN, traditionally responsible for coordinating humanitarian crisis responses, has been marginalised while US assistance has been characterised by damaging political in-fighting," the report said.
Mr Rowson says that a lot of money has been pledged for reconstruction but very little has been distributed to rebuild the Iraqi health system.
"The political situation is key to making health improvements in Iraq," he said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1255126.htm
They exposed poor sanitation in many hospitals, shortages of drugs and qualified staff and huge gaps in services for mothers and children.
Medact, which monitors healthcare in post-conflict areas, called for an inquiry into the situation.
It has also challenged the British government to set up a commission to establish the level of civilian casualties in Iraq.
Damaged hospitals
"The war is a continuing public health disaster that was predictable - and should have been preventable," the group says.
"Excess deaths and injuries and high levels of illness are the direct and indirect results of ongoing conflict."
Groups like the medical charity Merlin and the UN aid organisation Unicef were among those whose staff provided information.
They paint a picture of a health service struggling to cope and, because of the continuing violence, a population often afraid to leave their homes to seek medical help.
Twelve percent of Iraq's hospitals were damaged during the war and the country's two main public health laboratories were also destroyed, the report says.
However, Iraq's deputy prime minister Barham Saleh told reporters in London that the health situation in Iraq was "not good" but it was improving not deteriorating.
He said "the level of devastation that Saddam Hussein has left us with was unimaginable" and added that health budgets were increasing.
UK foreign secretary Jack Straw pointed out that since the conflict 95% of children under five had been immunised, some 150 primary health care centres were planned and a string of hospitals in the south of the country had been renovated.
He said the great mistake the report made was blaming any problems with healthcare on the Iraqi government and health ministry rather than terrorists and insurgents.
"In those many areas of Iraq where there are no terrorists and no insurgents there is no problem whatsoever with the delivery of health care."
Medact accuses the UK and US governments and Iraqi authorities of denying "the true extent of harm" to Iraq's civilians.
It also says health relief and reconstruction efforts have been bungled through mismanagement and corruption.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4054105.stm
Last year's US-led invasion of Iraq has caused a dramatic deterioration in the health of the Iraqi people, according to a new report.
Medact, a UK-based medical charity, said on Tuesday that the ongoing conflict had led - directly and indirectly - to many thousands of deaths and injuries, and high levels of illness.
The charity blames Iraq's predicament on conflict, criminality, social inequality, lack of democracy, political instability, the presence of foreign forces and decrepit essential infrastructure.
It says there has been an alarming recurrence of previously well-controlled communicable diseases including diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections and typhoid, particularly among children.
There is also a greater burden of non-communicable disease, but a lack of resources, facilities and expertise to reverse the trend.
The likely consequence, says Medact, will be further preventable death and disability.
"The 2003 war exacerbated the threats to health posed by the damage inflicted by previous wars, tyranny and [US-sponsored UN] sanctions. It not only created the conditions for further health decline, but also damaged the ability of Iraqi society to reverse it," the report said.
Health relief 'mismanaged'
Behavioural problems such as family violence, child and spouse abuse and acts of public violence greatly increase in conflict and post-conflict situations, says Medact.
And the effects of the psychosocial trauma suffered by the Iraqi people create preconditions for further violence.
Medact director Mike Rowson said Iraqis increasingly rely on self-diagnosis and traditional healing, and buy prescription medicines in the marketplace.
Under-the-table payments are required to secure many services, and there is widespread suspicion of criminal involvement in the distribution of pharmaceutical supplies.
The UN, traditionally responsible for coordinating humanitarian crisis responses, has been marginalised, said Rowson, while US assistance has been characterised by damaging political in-fighting.
Moreover, aid and development workers run great risks and most humanitarian agencies have left central and southern Iraq, which remains largely a war zone.
"Health relief and reconstruction efforts have been mismanaged so far," said Rowson.
Independent health commission
"The UK government could play a bigger role in supporting the Iraqi authorities to provide emergency relief and build a better health system.
"Decisive action is needed to halt this health disaster -immediate help for civilians whose health is at risk, urgent assessment of their health needs, and the establishment of an independent inquiry into the state of the population's health."
The charity says that the US and UK authorities continue to deny the true extent of harm to the Iraqi population.
It recommends that an independent commission should make a thorough investigation of casualties and the state of health in Iraq.
Foreign forces should also monitor casualties, re-evaluate the impact of weaponry in populated areas, comply with the Geneva Conventions, and ensure health services are accessible to civilians in conflict areas.
The report follows a recent scientific study which said that more than 100,000 Iraqis might have died since the 2003 invasion - mostly from violence, mainly air strikes.
Most of those reportedly killed by foreign forces were women and children, according to the British medical journal The Lancet.
Parlous health system
Many thousands of conflict-related injuries were also sustained.
However, The United States Agency for International Development (USAid), which oversees Iraqi redevelopment, says it has revived Iraq's run-down health system since the invasion.
It says it has done this by refurbishing health clinics, repairing sewerage systems, and through vaccination campaigns and delivering medicines.
Health spending has reached 60 times pre-war levels, according to USAid.
The organisation blames the parlous state of Iraq's health system on neglect and mismanagement during the Saddam years.
Aljazeera + Agencies
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/30C967C7-5AD5-4FB7-945B-A7B64254CF86.htm
War in Iraq has caused a public health disaster that has left the country's medical system in tatters and increased the risk of disease and death, according to a report by Britain-based charity Medact.
Medact, which examines the impact of war on health, says cases of vaccine-preventable diseases are rising, and relief and reconstruction work had been mismanaged.
"The health of the Iraqi people has deteriorated since the 2003 invasion," Gill Reeve, the deputy director of Medact, said.
"Immediate action is needed to halt this health disaster."
The report is based on interviews in Jordan with Iraqi civilians, relief organisations and health professionals who worked in Iraq.
It calls for Britain to set up an independent commission to investigate civilian casualties and to provide emergency relief and a better health system.
"The 2003 war exacerbated the threats to health posed by the damage inflicted by previous wars, tyranny and sanctions," the report said.
"It not only created the conditions for further health decline, but also damaged the ability of Iraqi society to reverse it."
Iraq had high mortality before the 2003 war.
The report details a recurrence of previously well-controlled illnesses like diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections and typhoid.
Post-war security worries limit access to health care, particularly in flashpoint areas.
The quality of health services is poor because of chronic under-funding, poor physical infrastructure, mismanagement of supplies and staff shortages.
The report says that one in four people in Iraq still depend on food aid and more children are underweight or chronically malnourished than in 2000.
"Maintaining adequate care is a real problem," Mike Rowson, the executive director of Medact, said.
Iraqis increasingly rely on self-diagnosis and traditional healing and buy prescription medicines in the marketplace.
"The UN, traditionally responsible for coordinating humanitarian crisis responses, has been marginalised while US assistance has been characterised by damaging political in-fighting," the report said.
Mr Rowson says that a lot of money has been pledged for reconstruction but very little has been distributed to rebuild the Iraqi health system.
"The political situation is key to making health improvements in Iraq," he said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1255126.htm
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Medact said cases of vaccine-preventable diseases were rising and relief and reconstruction work had been mismanaged, Reuters news agency reported.
“The health of the Iraqi people has deteriorated since the 2003 invasion,” Gill Reeve, the deputy director of Medact, told a news conference marking the launch of the report.
“Immediate action is needed to halt this health disaster,” he said.
The report details a recurrence of previously well-controlled illnesses like diarrhea, acute respiratory infections and typhoid.
It blamed the poor health services for chronic under-funding, torn physical infrastructure, mismanagement of supplies and staff shortages.
“One in four people in Iraq still depend on food aid and more children are underweight or chronically malnourished than in2000 ,” it said.
It noted that a lot of money had been pledged for reconstruction but very little had been distributed to rebuild the Iraqi health system.
Targeting Civilians
The report said that the indiscriminate US raids into Iraqi cities have added insult to injury, urging the occupation forces to re-evaluate the impact of weapons used in populated areas across the country.
“We hope that by highlighting health we can make sure that all sides in the conflict know the price the civilian population is paying for the ongoing violence,” Mike Rowson, the executive director of Medact, told Reuters.
The report said that twelve percent of Iraq's hospitals were damaged during the war and the country's two main public health laboratories were also destroyed.
Amnesty International in September harshly criticized the United Stat for killing dozens of civilians in a number of deadly consecutive air strikes into the war-battered city of Fallujah.
“Amnesty International is calling for an inquiry into recent attacks in which civilians were killed in Iraq in circumstances which may have violated international law,” the London-based had said in a press release.
On September9 , press reports and medical sources said that women and children were among 12 people killed in an also overnight US missile strike on Fallujah.
Investigation
The report, which is based on interviews in Jordan with Iraqi civilians, relief organizations and health professionals who worked in Iraq, called for Britain to set up an independent commission to investigate civilian casualties and to provide emergency relief and a better health system.
“The 2003 war exacerbated the threats to health posed by the damage inflicted by previous wars, tyranny and sanctions. It not only created the conditions for further health decline, but also damaged the ability of Iraqi society to reverse it,” it said.
Postwar security worries limit access to health care, particularly in flashpoint areas.
“The UN, traditionally responsible for coordinating humanitarian crisis responses, has been marginalized while US assistance has been characterized by damaging political in-fighting,” it said.
Formed in1992 , Medact is a global health charity tackling issues at the centre of international policy debates.
Led by its health professional membership it undertakes education, research and advocacy on the health implications of conflict, development and environmental change, with a special focus on the developing world.
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-11/30/article05.shtml
While Iraq people lay bleeding in the steet, a homeless American is worried about putting shoes on his feet!
Take our troops home, stop wasting Soldier's lives and American money..........There will always be terrorism- we are only provoking and making it worst.
Let's focus on what is important
America!