Iraq faces soaring toll of deadly disease

[DoYouEverWonder]

13 October 2004

Soaring rates of disease and a crippled health system are posing a new crisis for the people of Iraq, threatening to kill more than have died in the aftermath of the war. Deadly infections including typhoid and tuberculosis are rampaging through the country, according to the first official report into the state of health in the country.

The alarming evidence is the legacy of years of neglect, crippling sanctions and two bloody conflicts. Iraq's network of hospitals and health centres, once admired throughout the Middle East, has been severely damaged by war and looting, leaving staff struggling to cope and adding to the crisis.

The report, compiled by the Ministry of Health in Baghdad, provides the first detailed portrait of the health of the Iraqi population and the state of its health services since the 2003 war. It is being launched today by Dr Ala'din Alwan, the Iraqi interim government's Minister of Health, at a conference of international donors in Tokyo.

It charts the drastic decline in the health of the population and the catastrophic deterioration in health services during Saddam Hussein's era, one which has accelerated since the war. One third of the health centres and one in eight of the hospitals was looted of furniture, fridges and air conditioners or had equipment destroyed in the immediate aftermath of the war.


http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=571593

So instead of making things better for the Iraqi people, Bush has made things much, much worse. By the time this is done, he will go done in history has being worse than Saddam. Much, much worse.

[Moderator]

1. Duplicate

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