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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/105483458972.htm

05 Jun 2003 17:34:00 GMT

Kate Bulbulian

CARE International UK - UK
Website: http://www.careinternational.org.uk

Iraq now faces a public health crisis and a summer of diarrhoea if a concerted effort is not made to reinstate the Ministry of Health as soon as possible, humanitarian aid agency CARE International warned today.

‘This is only the beginning of the summer of diarrhoea,’ said Anne Morris, CARE emergency response director in Iraq. An estimated 50 percent of the water in Iraq is not safe to drink and temperatures in July and August can soar to 45°C. ‘If proper monitoring, testing and prevention mechanisms are not quickly put back in place, the breeding ground will spill over the brim of the cup. The entire Iraqi population is at risk of a public health crisis.’

‘What is happening in Iraq is an unusual crisis,’ Morris said. ’There is no famine or acute outbreak of disease. However, the significant layers of government are now gone. If ministries are not soon reinstated, basic infrastructure will continue to crumble and the Iraq people will suffer the consequences.’

Children are at the highest risk. More than 126,000 babies have been born since the war commenced – not one of them has received a tuberculosis vaccination. All children under 5 are missing out on regular vaccinations. Water and food borne diseases that were endemic to Iraq are growing to epidemic proportions. Hospitals around the country are reporting cases of diarrhoea that are two, three and four times higher than the seasonal average.

Working with the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organization (WHO) and staff from the Iraqi Ministry of Health, CARE has already commenced projects aimed at filling the current shortfalls in Iraq’s public health system. CARE’s Iraqi doctors are working with the UN to establish monitoring systems, with WHO 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 in eight of Iraq’s 14 central and southern governorates, including Baghdad, the holy city of Kerbala, Khalis and Hilla.

‘Iraq was not a failed country before,’ said Morris. ‘Sick people could go to hospital and be treated, and diseases endemic to Iraq were monitored closely by the Ministry of Health. Now there’s no monitoring or prevention activities, and hospitals and clinics are running out of medical supplies.’

CARE in Iraq: CARE International established a presence in Iraq in 1991 following the Gulf War. It is the only international NGO to have maintained continuous programmes in the centre and south of Iraq. Since 1991, CARE’s programmes have provided humanitarian assistance to over seven million people - one-third of the Iraqi population - focusing on rebuilding, repairing and maintaining water and sanitation systems and rebuilding and refurbishing hospitals and clinics.

Notes to editors
· For further information about CARE in Iraq, for photos or to interview CARE staff in Iraq, contact:
Kate Bulbulian - Press Officer, CARE UK. Tel: 020 7934 9347, email: bulbulian@ciuk.org
Allen Clinton – Press Officer, Baghdad. Tel: 0088 2165 110 1354, email: care11@skyfile.com