CARE Health Projects Aim to Fill Shortfalls in Iraq's Public Health System

CARE
Thursday, 5 June 2003

If Ministry of Health is not soon reinstated, Iraqi people will suffer consequences

The international humanitarian organization CARE, working with the UN, the World Health Organization and Ministry of Health staff, has commenced projects aimed at filling the shortfalls in Iraq's public health system.

"The significant layers of government are now gone, including Ministry of Health administrators. The entire Iraqi population is at risk of a public health crisis as a result," says Anne Morris, CARE emergency response director in Iraq. "Iraq was not a failed country. It had a monstrous dictator, but it had an effective civil administration. Diseases endemic to Iraq were monitored closely. People could go to a hospital and be treated. Now there's no monitoring or prevention activities, and hospitals and clinics are running out of supplies."

More than 126,000 babies have been born since the war commenced, and none of them have received a tuberculosis vaccination. Nor have other children under 5 received regular vaccinations. Water and food borne diseases that are endemic to Iraq are scaling up to epidemic proportions. Hospitals around the country are reporting cases of diarrhea two, three and four times the seasonal average.

CARE's Iraqi doctors are coordinating with the United Nations to establish monitoring systems; with the World Health Organization to restock testing equipment in looted laboratories; and with the Ministry of Health to provide prevention activities through primary health care and education.

At the same time, teams of CARE engineers and technicians are repairing and overhauling water treatment plants in major cities and towns like Baghdad, Kerbala, Khalis and Hilla. An estimated 50 percent of the water in Iraq is not safe to drink.

"This is only the beginning of the summer of diarrhea," says Morris. "Temperatures in July and August soar to 110-115 degrees. The breeding ground will run over the cup if proper monitoring, testing and prevention mechanisms are not quickly put back in place.

"What is happening in Iraq is an unusual crisis. There is no famine or acute outbreak of disease. But if ministries are not soon reinstated, basic infrastructure will continue to crumble. The Iraqi people will suffer the consequences," Morris concludes.

For more information, or to contact CARE, see their website at: www.care.org