Washblog

In other words, the first supplemental included funds for essential medicines (via UNICEF and the WHO), but the second supplemental did not. The second supplemental included $784 million to reconstruct 19 hospitals and 142 clinics, and these funds included $75 million to be disbursed in April 2006 for equipment. Exactly zero was set aside for essential medicines. Why? Because it's now the responsibility of the Iraqi MOH to procure and distribute all medicines. Yet, the MOH has neither the resources nor the infrastructure to distribute these medicines. The Minister of Industry and Minerals, Usama Abdulaziz, estimates that Iraq's pharmaceutical companies meet 50% of the country needs.

As a consequence, hospitals and clinics throughout Iraq are experiencing critical shortages of basic medicines. The following was recently reported in the Guardian Observer: "'Government is not functioning in so many sectors,' says Oliver Burch of Christian Aid, which has several partner organisations working across Iraq. 'The health budget for last year was $1bn, but out in the provinces, doctors in hospitals and clinics are appealing to everyone they can find, because they can't get the place painted; they can't get the toilet fixed; they can't get basic drugs.'"

In August 2005, I received a list of essential medicines needed at a children's clinic in Basra. This list--which included drugs for leukemia and solid tumor treatment, anti-nausea medications, rehydration agents, and pneumonia antibiotics--was passed to two members of the Washington State Congressional delegation. Normal political channels proved to be useless; in the end, an Austrian NGO provided the Basra clinic with a shipment of medicines. However, that shipment has now run out, and the Basra children's clinic is out of everything. A colleague recently passed me the following from the clinic's director:

"Dear Amy
Thanks you alot really we need everythings  yesterday  my patients two of them died because of severe dehydration and there is no fluid salin, the sitiuation is very bad
My best regard
Janan"

In other words, the clinic can't even treat dehydrated children with a saline drip. And with potable water now available to only about 32% of the population, water-borne diseases could reach epidemic proportions among children.

How many children must die in Iraq before one member of Congress stands up and says, "Enough!" Is there no one in Congress who cares?