"The environment is littered with mines, and they are killing humans.
A lot of unexploded bomblets are continuing to injure civilians,
particularly children because they are brightly coloured."
She said that maimed Iraqi children would not be treated in the same
way as Ali Abbas, a child who lost both arms in a missile attack on
Baghdad.
He received treatment in Kuwait and the UK following a high-profile
media campaign.
From The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk//Iraq/Story/0,2763,1082739,00.html
Report finds 'alarming deterioration' in Iraqi health
George Wright
Tuesday November 11, 2003
The war in Iraq has resulted in an "alarming deterioration" in the
health of the Iraqi people that will be felt for generations,
according to a report published by medical charity Medact today.
The report estimates that more than 7,500 Iraqi civilians, and at
least 13,500 combatants, died between the start of hostilities and the
end of the study last month.
It warns of long-term effects on health caused by postwar factors such
as a lack of sanitation and disrupted hospital services.
Dr Sabya Farooq, the report's author, said today:
"Limited access to clean water and sanitation, as well as poverty,
malnutrition, and disruption of public services - including health
services - continue to have a negative impact on the health of the
Iraqi people.
"The environment is littered with mines, and they are killing humans.
A lot of unexploded bomblets are continuing to injure civilians,
particularly children because they are brightly coloured."
She said that maimed Iraqi children would not be treated in the same
way as Ali Abbas, a child who lost both arms in a missile attack on
Baghdad.
He received treatment in Kuwait and the UK following a high-profile
media campaign.
The report states:
"The health consequences of the 2003 war on Iraq will be felt by the
Iraqi people for years, even generations."
It also warns of particular risks for "vulnerable groups such as women
and children, the sick, disabled and elderly".
It concludes that "what happens to health in the long term is
dependent on restoration of security and public services, and
regeneration of the health care system".
In a statement accompanying the launch of the report today, Medact
said:
"Because of the continuing insecurity and the alarming deterioration
in the health of Iraqi people since the war, Medact is calling on the
occupying forces and UN agencies to further investigate the current
and long-term health impacts of the war; ensure that all
reconstruction of public services, including health, is fully funded;
and carry out their obligation under the Geneva convention to maintain
law and order and to protect hospitals, health professionals and those
who provide humanitarian aid."
The report, which is entitled Continuing Collateral Damage: the health
and environmental costs of war on Iraq 2003, follows Medact's initial
report on the country, Collateral Damage, published in November last
year.
Medact said that the findings were based on a "comprehensive
independent survey assessing the health and environmental impact of
the war, carried out by an international team of authors and advisers,
all experts on health and conflict".
_______________________________________________________
This is "liberation?"
Harry
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