Iraq's Public Health Services Severely Strained, WHO Says
NYTIMES story on a WHO report:
Quote:
There are the obvious risks of car bombs and other violence that now kill an average of 100 people a day, according to the report from the W.H.O.’s Health Action in Crises group. But beyond that, there are a host of other problems created by years of conflict: 70 percent of Iraqis lack regular access to clean water, and 80 percent lack toilets that do not contaminate water sources, according to the report.
As a result of these multiple public-health failings, diarrhea and respiratory infections now account for two-thirds of the deaths of children under five, the report said. Twenty-one percent of Iraqi children are now chronically malnourished, according to a 2006 national survey conducted by Unicef, which puts them at risk for both stunted growth and mental development.
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The report cites the Iraqi government as saying that almost 70 percent of critically injured patients die in the hospital because of lack of staff, drugs and equipment.
To make matters worse, pregnant women and the injured and ill in parts of Iraq, including Baghdad, are afraid to risk the trip to the hospital for security reasons, the report said. Dr. Shibib said the problem was complicated by divisions between Shiites and Sunnis that led Iraqis to fear that they would not be treated at certain facilities.
Medical situation in Iraq
Updated link is http://discovermagazine.com/2007/aug/iraq2019s
This is a repost to possibly a more appropriate community from the catch all OIF threadline and now I have the link above to the Article referenced.
2001 --Iraq had 34,000 physicians and no War
2006 -- 18,000 have fled or ceased practicing publicly
2007 --2,000 physicians dead by report --this number strains credibility but if accurate physicians are being killed in Iraq at a rate close to killings of Iraqi police officers 5.8% for physicians vs 6.3% for new Iraqi police
These figures and reports are in August 2007 issue of Discover Magazine article "Iraqi Medical Meltdown". The Medical system in Iraq has been attacked not on a bricks and mortar level but at a staff level which is more devastating.
Imagine an enemy getting the phone list of an Army Battalion from Private to Colonel or worse their families phone numbers, and subjecting them to personal and family death threats, add to that a few actual attacks and killings and you have a battalion that is at least impaired if it does not melt away in vain individual attempts to protect family. My assumption is similar sustained attacks have plagued much of the remaining infrastructure and new army personel in Iraq. Very ingeneous, they have leveraged technology to separate the soldier from his weapon and unit at least mentally if not physically.
If this report and others like it are credible refering to reports earlier this year of the New Iraqi government refusing to issue travel visa's and diplomas from medical school to prevent new graduate emigration in an attempt to stem the exodus of physicians.
In the end the Mercy and Comfort without a staff are converted bulk cargo ships. Charity hospital in New Orleans is a stack of bricks now.
With this hostile enviroment NGO's and other nonmilitary medical providers have a very hard time functioning similar to the indigenous health system. US AID and the US military medical assets do not seem to be able to step up to this problem.
My suggestion is control all the modern communication systems in the country. If you want to buy a cell phone that works then you must have a valid address and submit to biometric scans and family and associate relationship questions of census takers. Difficult --very. slow-- yes, but possibly easier and more sustainable than ploping the Comfort or Mercy staff in medical city hospital Baghdad to staff it on a rotating basis. Also The Iraqi government may want to give new medical graduates body armor and a side arm as a graduation gift while they hold their passports (I understand visa's to England may already be hard to get anyway)
Any thoughts for mitigating the humanitarian impact the problem has on the population and or stoping this avenue of attack?
Mason
update rules of engagement
The air and other coalition ambulance crews typically offer care and transport for eval but sometimes people do not accept for multiple reasons scared of US , scared of New Iraqi Army or repercussions from insurgents.
My understanding is if we did not cause the injury or it is a regular health issue then we are not obligated to help (life or limb only etc). This unfortunately leaves the insurgent targeted civilians to seek care in as above is noted to be a onerously burdened system. In the end we must find ways to protect the population if possible in and out of hospitals and clinics or better yet to help them protect themselves.
The much bigger bang for support and impact on hearts and minds are in treating the not so badly injured too. That task would likely require a mixed medical team of Iraqi staff and American or other coalition staff. What we are attempting to do is honorable but given our own restraints as to who we will care for and how-- our personal risk is minimized but so is our effect on the greater situation.