by Dr.Alberto Colombi, M.D.

The tsunami has hit countries already marked by misery, countries which are also ravaged by bloody and merciless wars.

SRI LANKA
This country, one of the most devastated by the monstrous wave, is also the theater of a bloody war between the Singalese majority of Buddhist faith and the Tamil minority of Hindu faith. In the last twenty years of a civil war as ancient as the history of the island itself, it is estimated that 64 thousand people have been killed by armed struggle and about a million civilians have been displaced. On top of the devastation, loss of life and public health disaster for the survivors, after the tidal wave comes a new danger, that of landmines floating in the countryside -resurfaced and re-mobilized by the devastating flood.

Mud, masonry, houses in ruins: the tidal wave brought death and destruction. And still another danger threatens to aggravate even further this huge disaster. The devastating power of the water unearthed thousands of landmines across the country, adding yet more damage to the disaster zone. According to initial reports, the tidal wave caused an unknown number of mines to explode whilst many more are to be found floating dangerously in the flooded countryside. Sri Lanka is a country with one of the highest concentrations of landmines in the world. The guerrillas, who have for years sustained the war between the Tamil Tigers and government forces, have been using these devices for many years. What is more, the government never signed the international treaty banning the use of landmines, despite having claimed on a number of occasions “to be making significant progress towards the banning of these weapons”. This same government estimates that across the country there are an estimated 1.5 million unexploded devices. From And after the wave: the mines.

By Dr. Geert Van Moorter, M.D.
Medical Aid for the Third World
28 Apr 2004
Download the report in pdf format.

Evidence that child mortality is on the rise

The purchasing power, the food situation and the living conditions of the majority of the population have all deteriorated. Half of the active population has no job and no income. The prices of basic necessities, food and transportation have doubled or tripled. The quality of the drinking water is not being controlled, the sewage system of Baghdad has been damaged by the bombings, there is no regular garbage collection. Iraq has become one big garbage belt. All these indicators put together point towards a rising child mortality, a fact being acknowledged by the WHO representative for Iraq. It also brings Unicef to the conclusion that child mortality will probably increase further.

Report by Medact
Click here to download the full report in pdf format.

Executive Summary

This evidence-based report analyzes, from a public health perspective, the impact of the 2003 war in Iraq on health, the health system, and relief and reconstruction. Health is harmed by conflict-related damage to health-sustaining infrastructure and to the health system, as well as the corrosive effects of conflict-related factors such as poverty, unemployment, disrupted education and low morale. The effects of the war must be measured not only by death and injuries due to weaponry, but by the longer-term, enduring suffering.

Digest by David Smith-Ferri, Voices in the Wilderness

Several articles follow a brief summary of urgent health care conditions in Iraq.

Summary

While conditions for most Iraqis continue to deteriorate, as the country slips even more deeply into an environmental and health crisis, George Bush and his supporters danced to country music on the evening of election day, celebrating the War President’s reelection. If not exactly dancing on Iraqi graves, it is close enough to create the same revolting effect.

Consider this: in October, the Iraqi Ministry of Health in Baghdad produced the first detailed report of the health of Iraqis since the escalation of war in March, 2003. The report is alarming. Iraq’s network of health centers, already crippled by neglect, poorly provisioned, and understaffed 19 months, is worse now. Looting in the aftermath of the March invasion, increased violence, insecurity, and a chronic lack of medicines are contributing to the current crisis: a system that is clearly overwhelmed by the health needs of the population.

Because critical infrastructure repairs, especially those to the electrical grid and to water and sewer treatment facilities, have not been completed (in most cases, not even commenced), raw sewage continues to pour into drinking water supplies and deadly infectious diseases are rampant throughout the country. Almost 20% of urban households and 60% of rural households lack access to safe drinking water, leading to a surge in typhoid and hepatitis cases in 2004.

The report also chronicles increasing poverty: in 2003, an estimated 27 per cent of the population lived on less than $2 a day. Children have always borne the brunt of the health crisis in Iraq. Today, one third of children are chronically malnourished, putting their lives at serious risk from outbreaks of measles, mumps, and jaundice, which are infecting thousands. And there is a growing problem among children of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Articles

Les Roberts, Riyadh Lafta, Richard Garfield, Jamal Khudhairi, Gilbert Burnham
From The Lancet Journal

Summary

Background
In March, 2003, military forces, mainly from the USA and the UK, invaded Iraq. We did a survey to compare mortality during the period of 14·6 months before the invasion with the 17·8 months after it.