The Destruction of Iraq's Health Care
Ghali Hassan—11/2004 |
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The health of the Iraqi people, especially
the children, continues to alarmingly deteriorate
as the US-UK invasion force has deliberately targeted
hospitals, water purification plants, electricity
generators and sewage systems so that they can
not only "shock and awe" the Iraqi people
into submission, but procure lucrative reconstruction
projects for US firms. |
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 INCE
THE US military invasion and occupation of Iraq, Iraq's
health care system has deteriorated as a result of
deliberate destruction by the US administration. The
most vulnerable victims of this destruction are the
Iraqi children, particularly children under the age
of five. |
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| A new study, to be release soon, revealed that acute
malnutrition among Iraqi children between the ages
of six months and 5 years has increased from 4% before
the invasion to 7.7% since the US invasion of Iraq.
In other words, despite the 13-years long genocidal
sanctions, Iraqi children were living much better (by
3.7%) under the regime of Saddam Hussein than under
the tyranny of George Bush. The reality: the world
would be better off without George Bush. |
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| The study, which was conducted by the Norway-based
Institute of Applied International Studies, or Fafo,
in cooperation with the Iraq's Central Office for Statistics
and Information Technology, Iraq's Health Ministry,
and the UN Development Program (UNDP), shows that about
400,000 Iraqi children are suffering from 'wasting'
and 'emaciation' — conditions of chronic diarrhoea
and protein deficiency. |
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| A recent UNICEF report shows that, "[b]efore
1990 and the imposition of sanctions, Iraq had one
of the highest standards of living in the Middle East".
Now UNICEF reports, "at least 200 children are
dying every day. They are dying from malnutrition,
a lack of clean water and a lack of medical equipment
and drugs to cure easily treatable diseases". The
UNICEF report shows that, child mortality was not getting
any better since the conflict started in 2003 and that
the death rate among children was rising. |
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| UNICEF estimates that there are about 6,880 deaths
of children under the age of five every year in Iraq,
with an under-fives mortality rate of 125 per 1,000
live births. Furthermore, the mortality rate of Iraqi
women during pregnancy and childbirth has reached three
times the rate reported during the period between 1989
and 2002, a study by the United Nations Population
Fund reported. |
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| A medical delegation from the American Friends Service
Committee found that years of sanctions "have had
their severest impact on families and children there,
producing a generation of young people weakened by
disease, isolated from the outside world and left to
feed on feelings of bitterness and injustice".
In its report, the delegation noted that, "the
consequences of the sanctions fall most heavily on
children. While adults can endure long periods of hardship
and privation, children's physiological immaturity
and vulnerability provide them with less resistance.
They are put at greater risk and are less likely to
survive persistent shortages" of food and health
care. |
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| An earlier report by the UN stated that before the
first US war, "Iraq had an extensive national health
care network. Primary care services were available
to 97% of the urban population and 71% of the rural
population". Every Iraqi citizen had the right
to free health care provided by the government. In
1991, Iraq had 1,800 primary health centres, according
to the UN children's agency UNICEF. As a result of
US war and sanctions, a decade later that number had
fallen to 929, of which a third require serious rehabilitation,
one of the most pressing needs to date. |
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| The US-British sponsored sanctions and wars against
the Iraqi people have killed more than 2 million Iraqi
civilians, a third of them were children under the
age of five. Iraq's health care and education systems
were deliberately targeted for destruction. |
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| Under the US-UN imposed genocidal sanctions, Iraq's
public health care system has eroded at every level.
Life-saving medical supplies such as chemotherapy drugs,
antibiotics, vaccines etc., are either banned or delayed
under the dual-use policy. Medical equipments that
Iraq was allowed to import were either blocked from
delivery by US-Britain or the shipments were almost
invariably incomplete and of unusable quality. |
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| Using the usual mask of the UN, "the US had
prevented the normal importation of indispensable items
of equipment for more than a decade" wrote Tom
Nagy of George Washington University. In his research
on the effect of sanctions on Iraq's water and the
health care system, Nagy found that the US "intentionally
destroying whatever had remained of Iraq's water system
within six months by using sanctions to prevent the
import of a mere handful of items of equipment and
chemicals" that are vital for the treatment of
water. |
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| During the US assault on Fallujah, US forces cut
off water and electricity to the city of 300,000 people.
US air strikes have destroyed hospitals and medical
centres. The US took over the Fallujah General Hospital
and converted to a military hospital, thus denying
the citizens of Fallujah any health care service. On
09 November 2004, US warplanes attacked the Nazzal
Emergency Hospital in the centre of the city and completely
destroyed it. Thirty-five patients were killed, including
five children under the ages of 10 years. According
to Amnesty International, "20 Iraqi medical staff
[doctors and nurses] and dozens of other civilians
were killed when a missile hit a Fallujah clinic on
09 November 2004". The air strike also destroyed
the hospital medical supplies warehouse. The destruction
of Fallujah is a crime against humanity. |
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| As of today, the exact number of civilians killed
by the US assault on Fallujah is not known. According
to an official in the Allawi's puppet "government", "more
than 2085" Iraqis have been killed. US forces used
internationally banned weapons such as napalm, phosphorous
weapons and jet fuel, which makes the human body melt,
to attack the city in violation of international law. |
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| The Iraqi Red Crescent Society was prevented by
US forces from entering the city to provide supplies
to the wounded civilians, and called the health conditions
in and around Fallujah "catastrophic". Eyewitnesses
say most of the victims are civilians, including, women,
children, and unarmed men between the ages of 14-60
years old, who were prevented from leaving the city
before the US onslaught. Furthermore, many children
have died as a result of starvation, dehydration and
outbreaks of diarrhoeal infections. UNICEF Executive
Director Carol Bellamy said that the death of was "an
unconscionable slaughter of innocents". "The
killing of children is a crime and a moral outrage",
Bellamy added. |
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| The Fafo report paints a catastrophic picture of
Iraq's health care under US Occupation. "It's in
the level of some African countries", Jon Pedersen,
deputy managing director of the Norway-based Institute
told The Associated Press. "Of course,
no child should be malnourished, but when we're getting
to levels of 7 to 8 percent, it's a clear sign of concern",
he added. |
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| The report blames the US Occupation for the deteriorating
conditions in Iraq. Unreliable supplies of electricity
have made it hard to boil water for safe drinking.
The destruction of Iraq's infrastructure, including
the sewage and water systems has exacerbated the problem
and led to increase in outbreaks of virulent diseases
such as hepatitis. More that 20% of urban residents
and 60% of rural Iraqis don't have access to clean
water, as a result of the destruction of Iraq's infrastructure. |
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| In order to sale Iraqi assets and resources, the
US must render them useless first. The deliberate targeting
of Iraq's health care system for destruction is part
of the illegal armed conquest of Iraq. The objective
is quite clear: the cheap sale of Iraqi assets and
resources to US corporations. |
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| The US is unable to provide all Iraqis with acceptable
and equal health care. Health care in the US is worse
than any of the developing countries, with appalling
statistics. The US is one of the few countries in the
world that do not provide universal health care for
children and pregnant women. Infant mortality, low
birth weight, and child deaths under five are ranked
among the highest in the US as compared to Western
industrial nations and Japan. |
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The best and lasting solution to the humanitarian
catastrophe in Iraq is for the US to stop the violence
against the Iraqi people, withdraw its forces from
Iraq, and restoration of Iraq's sovereignty. The current
interim US-appointed "government" is illegitimate.
Iraq's sovereignty should be restored to ensure the
peaceful rehabilitation of Iraq's infrastructure and
health care system. |
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| Copyright © 2004
Ghali Hassant |
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