Iraq: UN report cites vast under-nutrition among children

[Barrett808]

BAGHDAD, 8 May (IRIN) - One in three Iraqi children is malnourished and underweight, according to a report released by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Amman on 2 May.

"Under-nutrition should not be accepted in a country like Iraq, with its wealth of resources," said UNICEF Special Representative for Iraq Roger Wright from the Jordanian capital, Amman. Wright added that ongoing insecurity served to deter parents from visiting health centres for essential services, while many health workers had been kidnapped or killed in different parts of the country.

According to the report, a full 25 percent of Iraqi children between six months and five years old suffer from either acute or chronic malnutrition. A 2004 Living Conditions Survey indicated a decrease in mortality rates among children under five years old since 1999. However, the results of a September 2005 Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis – commissioned by Iraq's Central Organisation for Statistics and Information Technology, the World Food Programme and UNICEF – showed worsening conditions since the April 2003 US-led invasion of the country.

The problem is particularly dire in the south, especially in the provinces of Basra, Diala, Najaf, Qadissiyah, Salahuddin and Wasit, due primarily to a lack of health funding. Health ministry officials acknowledge that the public health situation remains below international standards, but expressed hope that the recently formed government in Baghdad would provide more funding.

(more)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/2f579a75641ad1b1b8ef750a7efb67ce.htm

[lumpy]

1. Thanks go to Bush and Blair

for making a bad situation worse with their war mongering. What is to be done? Nothing....

[hatrack]

2. Well, you can't make a Freedom Omlette w/o breaking some Liberty Eggs!

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :puke: :puke:

[libodem]

3. some of the missing billions

would go a long way toward providing some bowls of oatmeal for these kids. Are there still some problems with food for oil related to this? Are there still sanctions in place by the UN, that weren't deleted with our invasion? What can be done? This is fucking sick and wrong!!!