Jeff Leys
Christian Peacemaker Team

Jeff Leys traveled to Iraq before the war with the Iraq Peace Team and is in Iraq now with the Christian Peacemaker Team.

Yesterday we met with the medical staff at a local teaching hospital. We also had the opportunity to visit briefly with children in the oncology ward of the hospital.  The doctors indicated that the supply of medicine has improved somewhat since the invasion.  They also said that they are now able to travel to other countries to attend conferences to update their skills.  For one conference, one doctor was able to get a visa to travel to Great Britain in just 24 hours–a process that would have been long drawn out in the days of the sanctions, with no assurance a visa would be granted. It is clear from talking with these medical doctors that Iraq is continuing to experience the impact of a massive brain drain from the country which occurred during the years of Saddam Hussein. It is also clear that even though some conditions may have improved for the medical community since the invasion, that these improvements come nowhere near being the type of substantive improvements necessary to rebuild the Iraqi health care system–which at one point was the best health care system in the Middle East region.

In terms of medicine, supplies coming into the country have increased since the invasion.  However, the supplies coming in come nowhere near being what is needed nor do the supplies come in on a timely manner. The doctors stated that, at best, 10 to 20% of their medical needs are being supplied.  They indicated that the bulk of this is coming from non-governmental organizations.  They also indicated that there is a problem in coordinating the receipt of medical supplies from these NGOs.  Sometimes they may order supplies but not receive the medicine until near the end of the year–and near the expiration date of the medicine.  So while it may look like more medicines are coming into the country over the course of the year, it also is the case that the medicine is not necessarily arriving when it is needed over the course of the year.  Also, because coordination is not as it should be for the delivery of medicines, at times there will be a “surplus” of medicines while other medicines are in severe shortage. Of course this is at one of the best hospitals in Baghdad.  What the situation may be like at other hospitals is not known, though it is likely far worse. The doctors we spoke with emphasized that they were speaking based upon their own experience.

Also, they emphasized that there remains a severe shortage of trained medical personnel in Iraq.  These two are the only two doctors for the oncology department at their hospital–a hospital that serves all of Iraq.  There is a severe shortage of nurses–mothers continue to stay at the hospital with their children in order to provide basic nursing care.  The doctors also made it a point of noting that because there is no phone service in Iraq, they are not able to consult with colleagues concerning patients, which hurts patient care.  Also without phone service, they often cannot do needed follow up with patients–even something as “simple” as scheduling an appointment is excessively difficult.  In addition, the lack of security in Iraq is hurting medical care.  The hospital director gave the example of one patient who was discharged after only two days in the hospital for a procedure that would normally require staying in the hospital for five days.  The reason–the family could not afford to be away from home for any period of time for fear that looters would rob them of their belongings while they were gone to the hospital.

The doctors also mentioned that four of them were able to travel to Great Britain for a medical conference to update their skills and knowledge in their practice area.  However, the also stated that the knowledge they gained at the conference would not result in any significant improvement in medical care in Iraq.  The reason is quite simple–in Iraq they do not have the medical facilities, the laboratories, the equipment that is necessary to provide the improved medical care spoken of at this conference.  What the doctors unequivocally said is needed is for doctors and nurses to come to Iraq to share their knowledge with Iraqi medical personnel, working side by side in the same conditions, so that what is gained by Iraqi health care workers is practical and can be used given the severe degradation of the health care system.  So far only one foreign doctor has come to their hospital to work side by side with them–much appreciated by the Iraqi doctors even though that foreign doctor only worked with them for one week.

One final note on the health care system in Iraq.  The doctors stated that they lack any of the basic infrastructure need to improve the medical system in Iraq.  Something as basic as lacking people trained in statistical analysis.  This lack prevents Iraqi doctors from gaining insight into effective medical treatments or trends that are developing in the health of Iraqi citizens.  They also lack computer equipment which means they must manually study case files if they are to develop any type of medical study to try to improve medical treatments. They lack the time and the resources to develop a comprehensive health care plan for Iraq.

Iraq is now entering its wet season.  With the sewage system and water treatment systems in utter disrepair, fertile ground exists for the breeding of mosquitos.  There is a fear growing that a major outbreak of malaria could well take place in Iraq in the not too distant future- an outbreak that the current health care system is woefully unprepared to counteract.