WHAT THE MEDIA DOESN'T TELL YOU ABOUT IRAQ'S HEALTH CARE CRISIS

The IRAQ state medical system is on its knees.
Dahr Jamail
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46000

IRAQ:Medical Care At Last, At a Price

for those who can find the dollars for it."Why would I want to go to government-run hospitals where there is no care, no functioning instruments, long lines, and in the end the same doctor who treats you there can treat you at a private hospital," says Mohammed Abbas, 35, an employee at Iraq's Ministry of Oil.

Abbas, speaking at the private Saint Raphael Hospital in the Karrada area of Baghdad, wanted treatment on time, and was prepared to pay for it. Like him, many are coughing up money for private treatment. When they have money, that is, in an economy with more than 50 percent unemployment.

For medical care, many scramble to find money somehow. "It is a catastrophe at the government-run hospitals," says Hayder Abud, 30, at the private hospital for a check-up. "When you finally get a doctor to see you there, they are so rushed and sleep deprived, you can't be sure you are getting proper treatment."

Most treatment at government hospitals is free.

Getting an x-ray at a private hospital may cost 40 dollars. But at a private hospital the job can get done on time. "Iraq's Ministry of Health is struggling," said Khaled, administrative manager at the Saint Raphael Hospital, requesting that his last name not be used. "We have had problems with the Ministry of Health because they are angry at us for treating so many more people nowadays."

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