The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]
Medecins sans Frontieres ("Doctors Without Borders")
http://www.msf.org/content/page.cfm?articleid=FA28DB14-81C5-4D1A-988099131BE
2A99F
Information dated 02.05.2003
USA fails to fulfil obligation to support health system in Iraq
Posing threat to health of Iraqi people
The US gave priority to efforts and concerns in building administration,
forgetting to organize immediate assistance to the wounded. It also failed
to provide timely security for hospitals and medical staff.
Related information:
April 26:
Laws, war, and public health
The Geneva Convention is clear on the obligation of occupying powers to
provide for the hygiene and public health of the civilian population as well
as for the provision of relief.
Washington, DC/Baghdad - The United States-led coalition has failed to meet
its responsibility under international humanitarian law to ensure that the
health and well being of the Iraqi people is being provided for, stated the
international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières
(MSF) today.
Urgent medical needs are not being addressed and disorganization in
hospitals is posing a threat to the health of people in the country. MSF
again demands that the US-led coalition, as the occupying power, immediately
fulfill its obligation to provide for the medical needs of the Iraqi people
which it has thus far not done.
"Despite three weeks of the US occupation and many months of planning for
this war, Baghdad, a city the size of Houston and Chicago combined, still
does not have any fully functioning hospitals," said Morten Rostrup, MD, MSF
International Council President, who has just returned from 6 weeks in
Baghdad. "Disorder and political struggles in Baghdad and elsewhere have
left the health system in disarray at a time when the recent bombings, that
included the use of cluster bombs, and ongoing hostilities, including
injuries to civilians, make access to health care all the more critical."
The US gave priority to efforts and concerns in building administration,
forgetting to organize immediate assistance to the wounded. It also failed
to provide timely security for hospitals and medical staff.
In Baghdad, hospitals are filthy, many were looted, and no proper emergency
transport system is in place. People wounded in the war who fled or were
discharged from hospitals during the anarchy of the first days of US
occupation had little idea where to go to receive follow-up treatments for
their often serious injuries, including amputations.
And since hospitals are still not fully functioning patients continue to be
discharged early. Sufferers of chronic conditions such as diabetes, kidney
disease, and epilepsy have nowhere to refill their medications. Iraqi
doctors and nurses have still not been paid.
In the hospitals that MSF has visited in Baghdad and other parts of the
country, including Amarah, Basrah, Karbala, Nasariya, and elsewhere, there
are life-threatening illnesses, such as tuberculosis and kala azar, that are
going untreated due to lack of medicines.
MSF has tried to fill the gaps in medical assistance in Baghdad and
elsewhere by providing medicines, supplies, and assistance where necessary,
but a lack of plans to attend to the immediate health needs, power struggles
and the absence of clear lines of authority in Iraqi hospitals and the
health system as a whole is posing the greatest challenge to health in the
country.
"Fortunately, MSF teams in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq have not yet
detected signs of epidemics, large displacements of people, or acute
malnutrition that would constitute a major catastrophe on the scale of what
we are witnessing elsewhere in the world today," stated Dr. Rostrup.
"Nevertheless, there are important, unaddressed health needs, and any
further delay by the US in reestablishing essential medical services is
costing lives and heightening the risk that epidemics and other health
problems may arise."
MSF currently has 30 international aid workers in Iraq and surrounding
countries and is carrying out assessments in all major cities, including
Baghdad, Basra, Karbala, Tikrit, Nasariya, and Mossul, to determine the
needs and provide medical assistance where necessary.
_______________________________________________
Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss
To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk
All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk