I also seem to remember that US forces attacked a lot of hospitals during the 1st year.
Bruce Leier > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:futurework- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Christoph Reuss > Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2006 12:00 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Futurework] Medics beg for help as Iraqis die needlessly > > [How much of this is part of a planned Arab genocide...?] > > > http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1904962.ece > > > Medics beg for help as Iraqis die needlessly > > Half of all deaths preventable, say country's medics > Reconstruction seen as disaster > More than 2,000 doctors and nurses are killed > 18,000 more leave the nation > Even the most basic treatments are lacking > > By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor > Published: 20 October 2006 > > The disintegration of Iraq's health service is leaving its civilians > defenceless in the continuing violence that is rocking the country, Iraqi > doctors warn today. > > As many as half of the civilian deaths, calculated at 655,000 since the > 2003 invasion, might have been avoided if proper medical care had been > provided to the victims, they say. > > In separate appeals, the doctors beg for help to stem the soaring death > rate and ease the suffering of injured families and children. They say > governments and the international medical community are ignoring their > plight. > > In the first 14 months after the 2003 invasion almost $20bn (£11bn) was > spent on reconstruction by the British and American funds, including > hundreds of millions on rebuilding and re-equipping the country's network > of 180 hospitals and clinics. > > But billions went missing because of a combination of criminal activity, > corruption, and incompetence, leaving Iraqis without even the essentials > for basic medical care. > > The violence for which the Allied forces failed to plan has meant a $200m > reconstruction project for building 142 primary care centres ran out of > cash earlier this year with just 20 on course to be completed, an outcome > the World Health Organisation described as "shocking". > > In March, the campaign group Medact said 18,000 physicians had left the > country since 2003, an estimated 250 of those that remained had been > kidnapped and, in 2005 alone, 65 killed. > > Medact also said "easily treatable conditions such as diarrhoea and > respiratory illness caused 70 per cent of all child deaths", and that " of > the 180 health clinics the US hoped to build by the end of 2005, only four > have been completed and none opened". > > Writing in the British Medical Journal today, Dr Basssim Al Sheibani and > two colleagues from the Diwaniyah College of Medicine in Iraq says that, > as the violence escalates, "the reality is we cannot provide any treatment > for many of the victims." > > "Emergency departments are staffed by doctors who do not have the proper > experience or skills to manage emergency cases. Medical staff ... admit > that more than half of those killed could have been saved if trained and > experienced staff were available." > > They say equipment, supplies and drugs are in many cases unobtainable. " > Many emergency departments are no more than halls with beds, fluid suckers > and oxygen bottles." > > They add: "Our experience has taught us that poor emergency medicine > services are more disastrous than the disaster itself. But despite the > daily violence that is crushing Iraq, the international medical community > is doing little more than looking on" > > The shortages were graphically highlighted in a Channel 4 Dispatches > documentary made by GuardianFilms, and broadcast in February. It revealed > that children with diarrhoeal disease were dying of dehydration because > hospitals lacked the right sized needles to inject them with fluids. > > In Diwaniyah children's hospital, doctors were shown struggling to give > drugs by ventilation to a two-day old girl, Zehara, who was born with > underdeveloped lungs, because they had the wrong sized plastic mask. Masks > costs pennies but, like all other equipment, are in short supply. > > Zehara's father was dispatched on to the streets to try to buy Vitamin K > on the black market, urgently needed for an injection. But it was too late > - by the time he returned, she was dead and her twin brother also passed > away shortly afterwards. > > In a separate report yesterday, Peter Kandela, an Iraqi doctor who has > practised as a GP in Surrey for 30 years, travelled through Jordan and > Syria interviewing Iraqi medical staff who had escaped the violence. > > "The current Iraqi brain drain is the worst the country has seen in its > modern history," he writes > > "In the new Iraq there is a price tag linked to your position and status. > Those doctors who have stayed in the country know what they are worth in > kidnapping terms and ensure their relatives have easy access to the > necessary funds to secure their speedy release if they are taken." > > He describes a kidney surgeon seized by a group of armed men, despite the > presence of security guards who he had hired to protect himself, whose > first act was to go through his contacts book for other potential victims. > " They had the audacity to suggest that in return for receiving better > treatment inn captivity I should recommend others for kidnapping", the > surgeon said. > > He was released unharmed after a ransom of $250,000 was paid by his wife. > > In Baghdad where no one can escape violence, hospitals provided the last > refuge. But they are now unsafe and Iraqis are avoiding them. Public > hospitals in the city are controlled by Shiia - who have come under > suspicion for allowing death squads to enter them to kill Sunnis. > > Abu Nasr, the cousin of a man injured in a car bomb who was dragged from > his hospital bed and riddled with bullets, told the Washington Post: "We > would prefer now to die instead of going to the hospitals. I will never go > back to one, never. The hospitals have become killing fields." > > Medical notes > 34,000 The number of Iraqi physicians registered before the 2003 war. > > 18,000 The estimated number of Iraqi physicians who have left since the > 2003 invasion. > > 2,000 The estimated number of Iraqi physicians murdered since 2003. > > 250 The number of Iraqi physicians kidnapped. > > 34 The number of reconstructive surgeons in Iraq before the 2003 invasion. > > 20 The number who have either been murdered of fled. 72 per cent of Iraqis > needing reconstructive surgery are suffering from gunshot or blast wounds. > > 164 The number of nurses murdered - 77 wounded. > > $243,000,000 The amount of money set aside by US administration to build > 142 private health clinics in post-invastion Iraq. > > 20 The number of such clinics built by April 2006. > > $0 The amount of money left over. > > $1bn The amount of money the US administration has spent on Iraq's > healthcare system. > > $8bn The amount of money needed over the next 4 years to fund the health > care system > > 70 the percentage of deaths among children caused by "easily treatable > conditions" such as diarrhoea and respiratory illnesses. > > 270,000 The number of children born after 2003 who have had no > immunisations. > > HEALTH INDICATORS: > > 68 per cent of Iraqis with no access to safe drinking water. > > 19 per cent of Iraqis with sewerage access. > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > ~~ > SpamWall: Mail to this addy is deleted unread unless it contains the > keyword > "igve". > > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > __________ NOD32 1.1754 (20060913) Information __________ > > This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. > http://www.eset.com _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
