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[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ] Continuing Collateral Damage: The health and environmental costs of war on Iraq The health and environmental costs of war on Iraq http://www.mapw.org.au/ International Report Launch Medical Association for Prevention of War - Australia MAPW is the Australian Affiliate of International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) Nobel Peace Prize recipient 1985 email mapw(at)mapw.org.au Updated 12 November 2003 Iraq - continuing devastation and uranium munitions MAPW Press Release 11 November 2003 Continuing Collateral Damage: The health and environmental costs of war on Iraq The health and environmental costs of war on Iraq http://www.mapw.org.au/ International Report Launch Wed 12 November 2003 Medact UK - the London affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) - undertook a comprehensive independent survey to assess the health and environmental impact of the war since March 2003. An international team of authors and advisers, all experts on health and conflict, carried out the research. MAPW President Dr Sue Wareham (Canberra) says "Beleaguered Iraqi health services are unable to cope with the health crisis. For every Ali Abbas, the severely injured and orphaned boy now undergoing intensive treatment in the UK, there are thousands of maimed children with no safe access to adequate health services, let alone sophisticated rehabilitation." MAPW President Elect, Dr Tilman Ruff (Melbourne) notes "This authoritative report . documents the health, environmental and societal consequences of waging an ill-advised and illegal war. The US and the UK must not only protect the health of the Iraqi people by providing massive help in the reconstruction of the infrastructure the attackers have destroyed, but must also make certain that future US and British policies prevent pre-emptive wars." Chair of IPPNW Board/MAPW Vice-President Prof. Ian Maddocks (Adelaide) states "Limited access to clean water and sanitation, poverty, malnutrition, and disruption of public services including health services continue to have a negative impact on the health of the Iraqi people. Former Secretary of Department of Defence, Paul Barrett AO (Melbourne) remarks that "This report is important not simply because of the particulars it gives of the health impacts of the Iraq war, but because of the light it shines on all of the ways wars impact on the health of combatants and civilians. These impacts occur not just through direct casualties, but through the effects of all those factors which lead to higher rates of disease and malnutrition - the impacts of war on the environment, housing, law and order, health services, education, water and sanitation, electricity, food security and the like. Most important of all, it proposes steps to be taken to deal with the health situation in Iraq as it now stands." Depleted Uranium (DU) - experts estimate that between 1,100 and 2,200 tonnes of DU were used by the US and UK during the conflict, compared with 350 tonnes in 1991. MAPW Executive Officer Giji Gya says "Quoting from the journal Military Medicine, Depleted uranium internal contamination presents a potential neurotoxic, endocrine, reproductive, nephrotoxic, and mutagenic hazard. In MAPW's policy on uranium, MAPW calls on Australia to exclude its troops from any alliance that uses uranium munitions, a full ban on uranium munitions and cessation of uranium mining and export to those countries which produce or use uranium munitions." (copies of MAPW policy on uranium munitions available on request or from the website www.mapw.org.au) For comment/interview ACT - Dr. Sue Wareham, MAPW President via EO 0413 594 717 VIC - Ms. Giji Gya, MAPW Executive Officer 0413 594 717 and Dr. Tilman Ruff, MAPW President Elect via EO 0413 594 717 SA - Prof. Ian Maddocks, Chair of IPPNW Board/MAPW Vice-President via EO 0413 594 717 NSW - Dr Gillian Deakin MAPW Vice-President via EO 0413 594 717 The report, an Executive Summary and additional material are available at www.medact.org and www.mapw.org.au after 8:00 am on November 11 (GMT). The report is available in English, Arabic, and Italian. The Executive Summary is available in English, Arabic, Sorani Kurdish and other languages. Non-English language versions of the materials will be available only on Medact's website. _______________________________________________ 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