Tuesday, November 07, 2006
90 per cent of Iraq's hospitals lack adequate resources
Infrastructure - Medical
Iraq's healthcare system is continuing to deteriorate as not enough qualified staff or equipment is available, according to the Iraqi Medical Association (IMA). "Doctors are facing serious challenges, further exacerbated by poor resources offered by the government. The medical system is getting worse every day and [even] with all the efforts made by the Ministry of Health, the problems are serious. Iraqis are dying due to a lack of proper medical assistance," said Farouk Najji, a clinician and senior member of IMA. According to the Ministry of Health, the US government has spent nearly US $1 billion on Iraq's healthcare system but more than $8 billion is required over the next four years to fund the current healthcare structure.
"The money invested in healthcare is not enough, especially with the increase in emergency requirements. The number of injured people increases every day and we have observed the appearance of diseases that were under control before, such as stress, cardiologic and intestinal diseases," said Barak Ahmed, public information officer at the Ministry of Health. The IMA says 90 percent of the nearly 180 hospitals countrywide are lacking resources.
"We cannot save lives as long as there is a lack of essential supplies. Most of the time we have a shortage of intravenous fluids, oxygen bottles and there are not enough beds to cover requirements on a daily basis," said Dr Mudhafar Yehia, a clinician at Medical City Hospital in Baghdad. In the paediatric ward, the problem is even more serious as there aren't enough needles for intravenous fluid for diarrhoea treatment, said Yehia. Yehia said that at least 20 children were reported to have died in Baghdad since August because of a shortage of needles, but the number could be much higher in small cities or towns where supplies are even scarcer.
"The money invested in healthcare is not enough, especially with the increase in emergency requirements. The number of injured people increases every day and we have observed the appearance of diseases that were under control before, such as stress, cardiologic and intestinal diseases," said Barak Ahmed, public information officer at the Ministry of Health. The IMA says 90 percent of the nearly 180 hospitals countrywide are lacking resources.
"We cannot save lives as long as there is a lack of essential supplies. Most of the time we have a shortage of intravenous fluids, oxygen bottles and there are not enough beds to cover requirements on a daily basis," said Dr Mudhafar Yehia, a clinician at Medical City Hospital in Baghdad. In the paediatric ward, the problem is even more serious as there aren't enough needles for intravenous fluid for diarrhoea treatment, said Yehia. Yehia said that at least 20 children were reported to have died in Baghdad since August because of a shortage of needles, but the number could be much higher in small cities or towns where supplies are even scarcer.
With escalating violence in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003, doctors are increasingly the victims of attacks and kidnappings for ransom by criminal gangs or by insurgents. As a result, doctors are fleeing Iraq. Najji from the IMA said that of the 34,000 Iraqi physicians registered prior to 2003, roughly half have fled the country, and about 2,000 have been killed.
COMMENT: This problem has been snowballing for a while as doctors have been kidnapped, murdered or fled the country. Militias such as the Mahdi army have taken over some hospitals resulting in Sunni patients being too afraid to come. Iraq had an excellent medical infrastructure but common diseases that were under control then will start to spiral out of control now and people will die not only due to violence, but also lack of medical resources. With all the displaced persons there is also a risk that common infectious diseases could become epidemics. COMMENT ENDS.
