James Glanz/NYT NYT
Friday, September 24, 2004

Collapse of water and sewage systems is believed to be at root of the illness

BAGHDAD A virulent form of hepatitis that is especially lethal for pregnant women has broken out in two of Iraq’s most troubled districts, Iraqi Health Ministry officials said in interviews here this week, and they warned that a collapse of water and sewage systems in the country is probably at the root of the illnesses.

The disease, called Hepatitis E, is caused by a virus that is often spread by sewage-contaminated drinking water.

Disgest by David Smith-Ferri, Voices in the Wilderness

This Digest begins with a brief summary, followed by media reports.

“Almost a year after Congress approved a U.S. contribution of more than $18 billion to rebuild Iraq, very little (only $600M) of this money has been spent. Very little has actually been built in Iraq, and most of what has been done has been paid for out of Iraq’s own revenues” (NYT, 8/10/04).

Three U.S. senators have called on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to account for 8.8 billion dollars entrusted to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq earlier this year but now gone missing.

With the “security situation” spiraling out of control, the US is now considering redirecting more than three billion dollars — originally approved by congress for infrastructure repair – toward “training and equipping more than 75,000 Iraqi national guard, police and border patrol officers.” The plan, recommended by US ambassador to Iraq John Negroponte, would also “pump some 225 million dollars into Iraq’s much sabotaged oil sector in an effort to enhance revenue to make up for the diverted US assistance by raising output from about 2.2 million barrels per day to three million” (AFP 8/30/04).

Of the $18.4B approved by the US Congress for Iraq rebuilding, $3.7B was set aside for drinking water, irrigation, and sewage treatment. The cost of providing drinking water alone, however, could cost $10B, according to Iraq Water Resources Minister Abdul Latif Rasheed.

Unclean water is not the only serious pollution problem facing people in Iraq. Lakes of sewage and large piles of uncollected garbage, especially in southern cities, are places where diseases can incubate and from which they can spread.

“Pollution in all its kinds seems to be spreading in Iraq especially with the unstable situation in the country where all eyes are turned to the security and political dilemma ignoring the crucial issue of maintaining a clean environment for people to lead healthy lives” (Mirror, 8/23/04).

In the inescapable face of threats to health haunting Iraqi citizens, and given how little “reconstruction” has actually been accomplished, it would be hard to argue that the architects of the war and the subsequent occupation care about ordinary Iraqi people. It would be equally difficult to explain the lack of reconstruction as simply a result of the degenerating “security situation,” of obvious poor planning, or even of gross incompetence. The almost total lack of provision for people’s basic needs suggests instead what some may have suspected all along: despite rhetoric to the contrary, at the level of US foreign policy decisions, the Iraqi people are incidental. The war and occupation have nothing to do with their welfare.

Articles

August 1, 2005
Disgest by David Smith-Ferri, Voices in the Wilderness

The information in this digest is organized into 2 sections:

• Health Care/Water
• Electricity

Each section has news headlines and, when available, news articles. When there is enough information available, a summary is provided.

July 19- 31, 2005
The information in this digest is organized into 3 sections:

• Health Care
• Water
• and Electricity

Each section has news headlines and, when available, news articles. When there is enough information available, a summary is provided.

By Aisha Robertson
www.islamonline.net
May 9, 2004

On June 16, 2003, Dr. Ali Hameed Rasheed, an Iraqi psychiatrist, submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Health in Baghdad to create a psycho-social mental health referral system for children in Iraq. Though such systems already exist in many countries, Iraq is lacking one. The goal of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Program for Iraqi children is to increase mental health awareness and reduce stigmatization of mental illness in the community.

Dr. Rasheed’s focus is on the children of Iraq who have been experiencing unbelievable desensitizing and traumatic experiences over the past 15 years. The main source of their trauma has been from three wars and twelve years of economic sanctions. This PTSD Program was developed to train adults who come in regular and consistent contact with children to recognize symptoms of mental distress and refer the children to professional mental health workers for help. Therefore, training for recognition of mental health distress is to be provided to teachers and primary health care workers with the aid and collaboration of religious leaders in local communities.