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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Iraq
Index
In the 1980s, almost all medical facilities continued to be
controlled by the government, and most physicians were Ministry
of Health officials. Curative and preventive services in the
government-controlled hospitals and dispensaries and the services
of government physicians were free of charge. The ministry
included the directorates of health, preventive medicine, medical
supplies, rural health services, and medical services. The
inspector general of health, under the ministry, was charged with
the enforcement of health laws and regulations. Private medical
practice and private hospitals and clinics were subject to
government supervision. In each province Ministry of Health
functions were carried out by a chief medical officer who, before
the war, frequently had a private practice to supplement his
government salary. Provincial medical officers were occupied
mainly with administrative duties in hospitals, clinics, and
dispensaries. The work of medical officers in the rural areas
before the war was seriously curtailed by lack of transportation.
One of the most serious problems facing the Ministry of
Health in the prewar period was its shortage of trained
personnel. The shortage was accentuated by the fact that most
medical personnel tended to be concentrated in the major cities,
such as Baghdad and Basra. Physicians trained at government
expense were required to spend four years in the public health
service, but they strongly resisted appointments to posts outside
the cities and made every effort to return to Baghdad.
In 1983, the latest year for which statistics were available
in early 1988, Baghdad Governorate, which had about 29 percent of
the population, had nearly 37 percent of the country's hospital
beds, 42 percent of the government clinics, and 38 percent of the
paramedical personnel. The increasing number of clinics in the
provinces, however, brought some rudimentary health care within
reach of the rural population. At the same time, given the
unsettled conditions in the Kurdish areas, it was likely that
health care in the northern provinces had deteriorated since the
start of the war.
Published information concerning sanitation and endemic
diseases was scanty. Reportedly in the mid-1980s Iraq had a high
incidence of trachoma, influenza, measles, whooping cough, and
tuberculosis. Prior to the war, poor sanitation and polluted
water sources were principal factors in the spread of disease. A
large percentage of the population lived in villages and towns
that have been along irrigation canals and rivers polluted with
human and animal wastes. These waterways, along with the stagnant
pools of water that sometimes constitute the village reservoir,
were the major sources of drinking water and of water for
bathing, laundering, and washing food. The periodic flooding of
rivers contaminated water supplies and spread waterborne
diseases.
The Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their tributaries serve
as water sources for Baghdad and some of the major provincial
towns. Irbil and As Sulaymaniyah, located in the northern
mountains, have adequate supplies of spring water. In Basra,
Mosul, and Kirkuk the water is stored in elevated tanks and
chemically treated before distribution. In Baghdad the water is
filtered, chlorinated, and piped into homes or to communal
fountains located throughout the city. In the smaller towns,
however, the water supply is unprotected and is only rarely
tested for potability.
Data as of May 1988
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