The Social Medicine Portal

Reports from Iraq on the Health Impact of the War

Dr. Dahlia Wasfi has passed on to us several Iraqi reports about the dramatic health problems caused by the US invasion and occupation of their country.  The materials sent by Dr. Wasfi are important because they provide an Iraqi perspective.

Two concern the use of chemical weapons in Fallujah.  Fallujah, once known as the City of Mosques, was the subject of two major U.S. assaults in April 2004 and November 2004.  Fallujah had also been subject to bombings during the first Gulf War.  Italian RAI News has produced a documentary entitled Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre which shows scenes from the November 2004 attacks.

• A 9 minute video, Iraq Deformities, produced by Journeyman Pictures reports an increase in birth defects among children born since the assault. The local population attributes these defects to the use of white phosphorus by the US Army.

• Dr. Dr. Muhamad T. A. Al-Darraji is an embryologist who is President of the Conservation Center of Environmental and Reserves in Fallujah (CCERF) and Director of Monitoring Net of Human Rights in Iraq (MHRI net). In March of 2008 he prepared a report for the High Commissioner for human Rights of United Nations entitled Prohibited weapons Crisis: The effects of pollution on the public health in Fallujah. He notes in his report that the medical records of Fallujah General Hospital were destroyed in the assaults, making it difficult to establish a comparison before and after 2004. This problem is compounded because the population in Fallujah has been greatly decreased. His document points to increased numbers of pediatric illnesses:

The main civilian victims of most illnesses were the children, and the rate of them represents 72% of total illness cases of 2006, most of them between the ages of 1 month and 12 years. While in 2007 was not very difference because many illnesses accounted the children with another ages.

Many new types and terrible amounts of illnesses started to appear since 2006 until now, such as Congenital Spinal cord abnormalities, Congenital Renal Abnormalities, Septicemia, Meningitis, Thalassemia, as well as a significant number of undiagnosed cases at different ages.

He also reports an increased incidence of cancer.

MPT [Muslim Peacekeeper Teams]  report refer Starting in 2004 when the political situation and devastation of the health care infrastructure were at their worst, there were 251 reported cases of cancer. By 2006, when the numbers more accurately reflected the real situation, that figure had risen to 688. Already in 2007, 801 cancer cases have been reported. Those figures portray an incidence rate of 28.21 by 2006, even after screening out cases that came into the Najaf Hospital from outside the governate, a number which contrasts with the normal rate of 8-12 cases of cancer per 100,000 people.

Dr. Wasfi also sent us a report from Dr. Souad N. Al‐Azzawi, an Associate Professor in Environmental Engineering, Iraq which focuses on the use of depleted uranium (DU) during the war.  She concludes:

“Continuous use of Depleted Uranium weapons since 1991 against the population and the environment of Iraq is an act of crime. The occupation’s total denial of the problem and refusing to allow international agencies to conduct any exploration programs to define the risk associated with this contamination, has resulted in more exposure to these radioactive pollutants, and more health damages.

Ignoring DU related health damages and the ongoing occupation of Iraq have proved to the world how desperate the American Administration is to control oil resources of the Middle East. Occupation of Iraq is a catastrophic criminal act that resulted in the death of over two million people and forced about five million of the population to leave their living areas inside and outside Iraq.

The occupying forces intentionally created a state of chaos during the invasion in 2003 to facilitate committing genocide against the Arab majority who refused the occupation of Iraq, ultimately changing Iraq’s demography and national identity in favor of the occupation’s new constitution and the minorities who helped them during the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

The occupation forces and allies failed to comply with Article 2 of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, and articles (42-56) of the Hague Regulations that addresses obligations imposed on occupying powers towards occupied people. The occupation forces and its assigned governments failed to ensure basic human needs like potable water, food, medical care, education, sanitation, and security. The excessive use of power, besieging whole cities, illegal imprisonment of civilians and even children, and occupation induced poverty have all turned Iraq into a death camp.

The international community is urged to help Iraqis gain back their independence and sovernity through getting the occupation forces out of Iraq and through refusing any shape of colonial, long term security treaties that would facilitate taking over the country and control the oil of Iraq through permanent foreign army bases.”

Commentary

This situation is not a new story.  There is an active campaign in the US to address the long-term health consequences (particularly in terms of congenital abnormalities) amongst Vietnamese exposed to dioxin during the Vietnam War. This campaign resulted from years of collaborative work between Vietnamese and international researchers.

It would seem fitting that US health personnel build relationships with our Iraqi colleagues to take their concerns seriously, to work collaboratively to document the health impact of the invasion/occupation, and to repair the damage caused by the war.

Posted  by Matt Anderson