|
 With Iraqis fleeing Islamic State in ever greater numbers, the
country's growing population of internal refugees is straining
public facilities already ground down by decades of war, sanctions
and red tape.
Focused on fighting insurgents, the government is struggling to
provide the services that Iraqis took to the streets to demand.
That failure is nowhere more acute than in a healthcare system once
seen as one of the best in the Middle East.
The World Health Organization says Iraq's public health, water, and
sanitation systems are collapsing.
The situation has become so desperate that thousands of Iraqis
forced to flee Anbar province in the west have opted to bypass the
government and seek medical care from non-governmental organizations
such as one called Dari.
Based in a modest apartment building in Baghdad's Karrada Mariam
neighborhood, Dari treats about 50 patients a day, mostly children
and the elderly.
So far this year, Dari has provided more than 15,000 families with
food aid and registered another 8,400 patients at its free medical
clinic, said its president, Alaa Abdel Sadaa.
Abdel Sadaa said his organization managed resources better than the
government, which is plagued by political infighting.
Prime minister Haider al-Abadi must meanwhile deal with resistance
from Iraq's fractious members of parliament, which means that as the
healthcare crisis deepens, he has to build a political consensus
before he can proceed with any reforms.
For its part, Dari relies on volunteers. None of its more than 100
medical professionals are paid, said Abdel Sadaa.
"We can treat 100 patients with $1,000," he said. "That is difficult
for the health ministry or any government hospital to say."
Dari relies partly on donations and supplies from pharmaceutical
firms and food manufacturers.
Abdel Sadaa said the government has called on non-governmental
organizations to help it fill the gap in public services caused by
the state's new austerity measures.
But he said instead of helping groups like his operate, government
agencies often obstruct his work.
Instead of supervising organizations to prevent corruption and
theft, the state uses the security situation to restrict the groups'
activities, he said.
The chief of the NGO directorate in the Iraqi cabinet, Ali Makki,
said his office is intensifying efforts to facilitate the work of
non-governmental organizations, especially those providing relief
and health services.
Dari was founded in 2013 to encourage blood donations after bomb
attacks in the capital. It now runs a mobile clinic in one of Iraq's
provinces every week or so, and has played a big role in fighting
the worst cholera outbreak in Iraq in years.
DECADES OF SUFFERING
Health ministry spokesman Rifaq al-Araji said non-governmental
organizations had helped to ease the pressure.
[to top of second column] |
Araji blamed economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations in
1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait, and subsequent wars and violence,
for the poor state of the health care system.
The war with Islamic State has displaced more than 3 million Iraqis.
With most belonging to the minority Sunni sect, the problem is also
a political one which Iraq is poorly placed to handle following
years of sectarian bloodletting between Sunnis and Shi'ite Muslims.
With lower revenues from oil exports and higher costs associated
with the battle against Islamic State, the government is failing to
help the most vulnerable.
"We came from the province of Anbar as a displaced family because of
the fighting there. We came here as our financial position is weak.
I have no job," said Khalil Ibrahim, 60, whose family has 10
members.
Anger over shortages of electricity, water and jobs erupted into
protests this summer in Baghdad and many southern cities, prompting
Abadi to declare war on corruption. At the same time, falling oil
prices forced the government to slash spending.
State hospitals are grim.
"I came to a government hospital because I can't pay the high cost
of private doctors. But the problem is I still have to get
medication from a private pharmacy as it is usually not available
here," said Ameera Abdel Muhsin, 50, a housewife, at a state
hospital.
Al-Yarmouk hospital in western Baghdad is typical. Patients are
transported through corridors littered with cigarette butts.
"I was admitted to hospital two days ago suffering with kidney
failure but I'm getting worse because of a lack of treatment," said
Qasim al-Kinani, 68, pointing to a cat eating leftover food beneath
his bed.
"Look at this farce. I'm sleeping on a bloodstained mattress with a
filthy smell. I feel like I'm sleeping in a zoo."
(Reporting By Stephen Kalin and Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Michael
Georgy and Giles Elgood)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
