If you think the NHS is bad..........

Acky · Apr 11, 2006

Imagine for one moment a city with roughly the same population as Greater Manchester (2 million people) and not having a single ventilator to help new born babies breathe, no IV fluids, not a single radiotherapy department and so few nurses that family members end up caring for patients.

The result - infant mortality up by 30% on Saddam Hussein's rule. My god, what a fecking mess. And to make things worse the US Government has recently said it won't be giving Iraq any more money for reconstruction funds.

As a result of water-borne diseases and a lack of medical supplies, infants born in the southern city of Basra are subject to abnormally high mortality rates, say officials of an international NGO devoted to child health issues.

"For weeks, there were no I.V. fluids available in the hospitals of Basra," said Marie Fernandez, spokeswoman for European aid agency Saving Children from War. "As a consequence, many children, mainly under five-years old, died after suffering from extreme cases of diarrhoea."

Fernandez went on to cite a number of problems facing local hospitals in Basra, which is located some 550km south of the capital, Baghdad. "Hospitals have no ventilators to help prematurely-born babies breathe," Fernandez said. "And there are very few nurses available, so hospitals often must allow family members to care for patients."

Many doctors in the area say that the local health situation has deteriorated markedly since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003. "The mortality of children in Basra has increased by nearly 30 percent compared to the Saddam Hussein era," Dr Haydar Salah, a paediatrician at the Basra Children's Hospital, pointed out. "Children are dying daily, and no one is doing anything to help them."

Fernandez added that, for the last three years, the Maternity and Children's' hospital in Basra had not received any cancer drugs from the health ministry. "In all of Basra, a city with nearly two million inhabitants, there's no radiotherapy department available," Fernandez complained.

Khalid Ala'a, spokesman for local NGO Keeping Children Alive, said that Basra hospitals lacked many essential drugs and antibiotics used to treat infections common to the area. "We've asked for help from the Ministry of Health, but they only tell us they don't have money to supply hospitals," Ala'a said. "They tell us we must wait for investment, which could take months."

Health ministry officials, responding to the charges, point to the ongoing deadlock over the formation of a new government. "We depend on the central government for money," said senior ministry official Ahmed Salahdinne. "What we're receiving, we're distributing, according to our capacity, to all areas of Iraq."

According to doctors and NGOs, the primary causes of high infant mortality are unsafe water, diarrhoea, malnutrition, infectious diseases, maternal stress and poverty. In light of these grave circumstances, local NGOs and doctors have called on international aid agencies to help ease the situation.
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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/b9fdc6aeb83850f9749264765b65b5be.htm

Red Rag · Apr 11, 2006

What can you expect?

It's a war zone where the perpetrators of the damage are the country's own people, and those who go out to help are at constant risk of being captured and / or beheaded.</p>

I'm sure neither the British or Americans are happy with this state of affairs, but, as they say, when you find yourself up to your arse in crocodiles, remember that it was necessary to drain the pond.</p>

E.I. Addio · Apr 11, 2006

Hang on - I best get ropes art agean.

and no I don't take pleasure in their plight. But I'm not going to help either.

E.I. Addio · Apr 11, 2006

Hang on - I best get ropes art agean.

and no I don't take pleasure in their plight. But I'm not going to help either.

E.I. Addio · Apr 11, 2006

Hang on - I best get ropes art agean.

and no I don't take pleasure in their plight. But I'm not going to help either.

Acky · Apr 11, 2006

RE: What can you expect?

It's a war zone where the perpetrators of the damage are the country's own people, and those who go out to help are at constant risk of being captured and / or beheaded. I'm sure neither the British or Americans are happy with this state of affairs, but, as they say, when you find yourself up to the arse in crocodiles, remember that it was necessary to drain the pond.
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Well that's what happens when you invade and.........oh you know the rest. Still we'll all know for next time, right? Anyway, according to Hilary Benn everything is getting better in Iraq!

"I think one has to recognise the progress that has been made three years on," Iraq now has a stable currency, it's reduced its debt, schools and hospitals are functioning and more people have clean water and access to sanitation than was the case, certainly in the 1990s when the system collapsed completely." - Hilary Benn, UK International Development Secretary, 21st March 2006
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He forgets to mention that the "collapse of the system in the 1990's" was due to US/UK led sanctions that killed 500,000 Iraqi children. That's right 500,000 children. Makes you proud to be a "civilized westerner" instead of one of these low life sand-******s eh? Granted, not Hilary's fault as he wasn't in power, but still best not to forget or deliberately erase parts of history, im sure his old man would approve.

Acky · Apr 11, 2006

RE: Hang on - I best get ropes art agean.

Thanks for that. What do you polish your conscience with btw?

Guest · Apr 11, 2006

Oh for ****'s sake.

Everybody who disagrees with you has no conscience or morals.

What the **** are you doing about it apart from posing on here. And who's paying you to do so these days?

Acky · Apr 11, 2006

RE: Oh for ****'s sake.

*sigh* It's not about my thoughts on the issue, its about the thoughts and hypocrisy of people like you. I couldn't care if you thought it was the right thing to do but since change your mind. What I object to is the fake grandstanding of people like you before the war and your lack of comment since. Mea Culpa?

What am I doing? Well when I get home im writing some e-mails to companies who make ventilators for small children and im in the process of finding out their costs. I thought trying to get a couple for hospitals in Basra would be a good thing.

Guest · Apr 11, 2006

Fake grandstanding? Ha ha ha ha ha !

And you use the word "hypocrisy" You don't know you're doing it do you?

You have no idea what others do and you appear not to give a rat's ass about the plight of the Iraqi people had the US not intervened and provided you with your bleeding-heart political catwalk.

Go and pose somewhere else Acky, and take your fake figures and loony-left propaganda with you.

Interesting IP by the way, while you're jabbing out your essay could you tell us who your provider is?

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