| | ArabMedicare.com News
Iraq Update | July 31, 2003
|
U.S. Government Assistance to Iraqi
Health Services
|
Washington,
D.C. -
As part of the U.S. government's overall reconstruction assistance in Iraq, the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID) has developed a comprehensive health care program to help maintain
stability, ensure the delivery of essential services, and facilitate
economic recovery.
Many Iraqis, especially women and children, are extremely vulnerable and are
at great risk for disease and infection. By 2003, almost one-third of the
children in the south and center of the country suffered from malnutrition.
Low breastfeeding rates, high rates of female anemia, low birth weights,
diarrheal disease, and acute respiratory infections all contribute to a high
child mortality rate. Life expectancy at birth is 58 years, which is low in
comparison to the average for least developed countries of 65 years.
Emergency relief activities related to health in Iraq were supported by
USAID through awards to organizations such as CARE, International Medical
Corps, International Rescue Committee, GOAL, Mercy Corps, Save the Children,
the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and World Vision. To assist in
revitalizing the health care system, USAID has awarded a contract to Abt Associates, Inc. and grants
to UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO). These partners will
facilitate the rapid, restoration of health services to the Iraqi population
and strengthen the overall health system to ensure medium- to long-term
viability in the country. Specific activities will include:
* Raising basic health care standards;
* Providing maternal and child health care to the majority of the population;
* Strengthening nutritional programs for malnourished populations, especially women and children to include promotion of breastfeeding;
* Rehabilitating health clinics, hospitals, and laboratories, including
provision of equipment and training of staff;
* Reestablishing disease surveillance, especially for infectious diseases
such as cholera;
* Reestablishing the distribution system for medicines;
* Improving health knowledge by assessing current beliefs and practices and
implementing appropriate behavior change intervention; and
* Assisting the Ministry of Health with policy, regulatory, planning, and
budgetary processes.
Program successes to date include:
* Provided 22.3 million doses of measles, tuberculosis, hepatitis B,
diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, and polio vaccines, enough to treat 4.2
million children and 700,000 pregnant women;
* Reestablished routine immunizations for children, conducted a social
mobilization campaign via television and printed material to inform communities about the restarting of routine immunization and conducted two
National Immunization Days (June 22 and July 22);
* Established a surveillance system to monitor for any cholera outbreaks;
* Prepared and distributed public service announcements about hand washing,
diarrheal disease and breastfeeding;
* Awarded a grant to the Nurses and Doctors Professional Care Organization
(an Iraqi NGO) to assist in start-up sponsorship of the Iraqi Nurses'
Association (INA) National Conference (July 15-16), purchase of nurses'
uniforms and equipment for Yarmouk Hospital (Baghdad), and support to the
INA;
* Conducted needs assessment of 168 hospitals and referral centers and 82
primary health care centers;
* Rehabilitated ten delivery rooms in hospitals and primary health care
centers serving 30,000 in Basrah;
* Provided essential drugs and medical supplies, in conjunction with Save
the Children, to two obstetric, gynecological, and pediatric hospitals in
Mosul; and
* Restored four looted health clinics in Kirkuk and returned them to
operating status.
The U.S. government and the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) will
continue to work with Abt Associates, UNICEF and WHO, as well as other
organizations, such as donors, international organizations, and NGOs to
rehabilitate the overall health system in Iraq.
|
|
|
