Geneva/Baghdad (ICRC) – Inadequate health care and water and sanitation services in much of Iraq
are putting millions of people at risk of disease, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said today.
"There has been some improvement in recent months, both in terms of
security and essential services.
More people now have access to health services and clean water.
But far too many Iraqis still have no choice but to drink dirty water and live in
insalubrious conditions," said Juan-Pedro Schaerer, the ICRC's head of delegation for Iraq.
"This leads to more sick people seeking treatment in a health-care system already stretched to
the limit." The ICRC is particularly concerned about people living in households not connected to a water network (some 40 per cent of the total, and mainly in the countryside and suburbs).
They must either buy water – at an average cost of 50 US cents for 10 litres – or, if they are too poor to do so, collect it from rivers and wells, which are often polluted.
Even households that do have piped water regularly experience problems owing to a chronic lack of maintenance and innumerable illegal connections to the network.
Furthermore, many Iraqis
have to live with the health hazards of uncollected household waste and untreated sewage.
As a result, many people contract water-borne diseases, further straining hospitals and clinics
already struggling with a lack of resources.
"My daughter is here because she drank dirty water," said a mother at Abu Ghraib General Hospital, near Baghdad.
"We have no clean
water at home.
The only water we get is from the river." Medical staff are struggling with chronic shortages of supplies and equipment.
Dilapidated and sometimes outdated medical
facilities lack proper maintenance and sanitation.
Electricity shortages are common and many facilities have to rely on back-up generators.
Many Iraqis simply cannot afford the
treatment they need.
Specialized surgery and treatment for diseases such as cancer are often available only in certain hospitals in the main cities.
Water, sanitation and health
care are among the primary concerns of the ICRC in Iraq.
This year alone, about four million people have benefited from repairs carried out by the ICRC on water and sanitation systems and
on clinics and hospitals.
ICRC water and sanitation experts are helping the authorities to repair and maintain pumping stations that supply hundreds of thousands of people with clean
drinking water.
The organization is also delivering drugs and surgical dressing materials to hospitals.
The ICRC has recently been able to expand its presence in the country.
"We can better help people because we now have more access to them than during previous years," said Mr Schaerer.
"We plan to gradually increase our aid across Iraq.
The
needs are growing all the time, despite the considerable efforts of the authorities and increased humanitarian assistance." Mr Schaerer also stressed that the situation of many civilians remains
precarious.
"Clearly, fewer civilians are dying now than at the height of the conflict," he said.
"Nevertheless, men, women and children are being killed and injured in
indiscriminate attacks every day.
The ICRC reminds all parties to the conflict that they have an obligation under international humanitarian law to protect and respect civilians." For
further information, please contact: Dorothea Krimitsas, ICRC Geneva, tel.
A student holds an Iraqi national flag during a protest at the University of Mustansiriya in Baghdad October 28, 2008. Iraq's cabinet will send proposed amendments to a long-awaited security pact ...
