U.S. INVASION LEAVES IRAQ'S HEALTH CARE A TOTAL MESS

Iraq's healthcare left in disarray after invasion

· Experienced staff emigrate due to lack of protection· Bribery is part of system, says independent report Sarah Boseley, health editorWednesday January 16, 2008The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2241367,00.html

Thanks to Lori Price, managing editor of CLG, and her excellent website http://www.legitgov.org/ for this news tip.

The full extentT of the destruction of Iraq's healthcare system and the devastating impact it has had on its people is documented today in a new report which indicts the allied invasion force for failing in its duty to protect medical institutions and staff.
The report, by an independent team of researchers and advisers from Iraq, the UK, the US and elsewhere, says the provision of healthcare "has become increasingly difficult" since the invasion. "Doctors and nurses have emigrated en masse, exacerbating existing staff shortages.

"The health system is in disarray owing to the lack of an institutional framework, intermittent electricity, unsafe water, and frequent violations of medical neutrality. The ministry of health and local health authorities are mostly unable to meet these huge challenges, while the activities of UN agencies and non-governmental organisations are severely limited."

The report, by the organisation Medact, tells how the charges for healthcare, abolished by the coalition forces in a flurry of idealism, have been quietly reinstated by health authorities unable to pay salaries and buy the drugs they need. Worse, patients now have to pay bribes to get into hospital. The report tells of one young woman, Aseel, in labour for three days with no pain relief, doctor or midwife. Her family decided they would have to find the money to get her into hospital.

"After parting with my first bank note to secure petrol from my neighbour, we prayed for safety during our long trip to Diwaniyah maternity hospital," said Aseel's husband. "Thankfully we arrived safely, and were greeted by the open hand of the security guard. We parted with another note to get in. It took a long time to find a midwife. Eventually a sleepy midwife answered my pleas and we exchanged papers, notes and promises to bring more notes. Amin was born the next morning.

"Aseel developed a serious kidney infection and needed antibiotics, but we couldn't get them in Diwaniyah. Amin had to be fed powdered milk diluted with tap water. There wasn't enough money to buy formula milk, so we had to make it last.

"Amin survived one of the toughest milestones of life - birth. By Iraqi standards his life of hardship had just started."

The provision of basic health services is very challenging, the report says, quoting Dr Ali Haydar Azize at Sadr City hospital: "Iraqi hospitals are not equipped to handle high numbers of injured people at the same time." Junior staff frequently carry out procedures beyond their competence, the report says.