Posts tagged Iraq

The insufficient capacity of the Iraqi health system to respond to the medical needs of the population has contributed to an unprecedented increase of maternal and infant mortality rates in the country. In 2007, the World Health Organization estimated the Maternal Mortality ratio to be 300 per 100,000 live births. According to the latest UNICEF State of the World’s Children report, Iraq presents a neonatal mortality rate of 64, while neighboring Syria and Jordan presented a neonatal mortality rate of 7 and 16 respectively.
Shinjiro Murata,
An MSF field coordinator from Japan, worked with MSF in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, where his main focus was setting up a new project focused on improving perinatal and obstetric care in one of the largest referral hospitals in the region.

Here, he talks about his experience.
Iraq: Working to Reduce Neonatal Mortality in Najaf Shinjiro Murata, a MSF field coordinator from Japan, worked with MSF in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, where his main focus was setting up a new project focused on improving perinatal and obstetric care in one of the largest referral hospitals in the region. Here, he talks about his experience: “I arrived in Najaf more than a year ago, in October 2010, to start an MSF project in the Al Zahara District Hospital. Najaf is located 160 kilometers (99 miles) south of Baghdad and is one of the holiest cities for Shia Muslims. It was not an easy task, and surely a challenging experience to be working in such a different country. My previous experience with MSF was in Africa, so when I started working in Najaf I realized that I would need to see things from a different perspective and adapt to the reality of a country that used to have a very well organized health system but, due to decades of conflict and international sanctions, has seen a rampant deterioration in health care provision. MSF decided to start a medical program to support the main Ministry of Health referral hospital, the Al Zahara District Hospital, for obstetrics, gynecology, and pediatrics in Najaf city. The hospital is one of the largest hospitals in the region, with a 340-bed capacity, and it deals with approximately 1,950 deliveries per month. These account for almost 50 percent of the deliveries carried out in the whole Najaf Governorate, which has a total population of 1.2 million people. It is most of the time overcrowded with patients and the quality of medical services provided is sometimes not adequate. After more than one year in Najaf I have seen that medical needs in the country are still very high. Until peace is restored in Iraq, MSF needs to continue supporting these pregnant women and newborn children. MSF is one of the few international medical humanitarian organizations working inside Iraq thanks to its independent, neutral, and impartial nature.Iraq 2011 © MSF Two newborn babies in Al Zahara District Hospital, where MSF has been working since 2010

Iraq: Working to Reduce Neonatal Mortality in Najaf

Shinjiro Murata, a MSF field coordinator from Japan, worked with MSF in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, where his main focus was setting up a new project focused on improving perinatal and obstetric care in one of the largest referral hospitals in the region. Here, he talks about his experience:

“I arrived in Najaf more than a year ago, in October 2010, to start an MSF project in the Al Zahara District Hospital. Najaf is located 160 kilometers (99 miles) south of Baghdad and is one of the holiest cities for Shia Muslims. It was not an easy task, and surely a challenging experience to be working in such a different country. My previous experience with MSF was in Africa, so when I started working in Najaf I realized that I would need to see things from a different perspective and adapt to the reality of a country that used to have a very well organized health system but, due to decades of conflict and international sanctions, has seen a rampant deterioration in health care provision.

MSF decided to start a medical program to support the main Ministry of Health referral hospital, the Al Zahara District Hospital, for obstetrics, gynecology, and pediatrics in Najaf city. The hospital is one of the largest hospitals in the region, with a 340-bed capacity, and it deals with approximately 1,950 deliveries per month. These account for almost 50 percent of the deliveries carried out in the whole Najaf Governorate, which has a total population of 1.2 million people. It is most of the time overcrowded with patients and the quality of medical services provided is sometimes not adequate.

After more than one year in Najaf I have seen that medical needs in the country are still very high. Until peace is restored in Iraq, MSF needs to continue supporting these pregnant women and newborn children. MSF is one of the few international medical humanitarian organizations working inside Iraq thanks to its independent, neutral, and impartial nature.

Iraq 2011 © MSF
Two newborn babies in Al Zahara District Hospital, where MSF has been working since 2010

The idea was to create a project not to replace the Iraqi health system but, as a principle, to support the Iraqi health system.
Dr. Assamarraie,
an Iraqi surgeon and deputy medical coordinator of MSF’s program in Amman for the chronically wounded, in an interview with Warscapes.

A story from the video vaults of MSF:

Mouna’s Story: An Iraqi Girl Struggles to Walk Again

The final and 5th part of a 5 part series

This video series from 2007 follows Mouna, a young girl who suffered severe injuries in Iraq, learning to walk again on artificial limbs with the help of MSF surgeons and physiotherapists in Amman, Jordan. MSF opened the program in 2006 to provide specialized reconstructive surgery to civilians wounded in the conflict.

Thanks for tuning in to learn about Mouna’s story!

If you missed the other films in the series go here:
Part 1 
Part 2 
Part 3
Part 4


Check out more about MSF’s work in Iraq here.

A story from the video vaults of MSF:

Mouna’s Story: An Iraqi Girl Struggles to Walk Again

Part 4 of a 5 part series

This video series from 2007 follows Mouna, a young girl who suffered severe injuries in Iraq, learning to walk again on artificial limbs with the help of MSF surgeons and physiotherapists in Amman, Jordan. MSF opened the program in 2006 to provide specialized reconstructive surgery to civilians wounded in the conflict.

Tune in tomorrow for the final installment, part 5 of Mouna’s story.

If you missed the other films in the series go here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3


Check out more about MSF’s work in Iraq here.

A story from the video vaults of MSF:

Mouna’s Story: An Iraqi Girl Struggles to Walk Again

Part 3 of a 5 part series

This video series from 2007 follows Mouna, a young girl who suffered severe injuries in Iraq, learning to walk again on artificial limbs with the help of MSF surgeons and physiotherapists in Amman, Jordan. MSF opened the program in 2006 to provide specialized reconstructive surgery to civilians wounded in the conflict.

Tune in tomorrow for part 4 of Mouna’s story.

If you missed the first two go here:
Part 1 
Part 2 


Check out more about MSF’s work in Iraq here.

A story from the video vaults of MSF:

Mouna’s Story: An Iraqi Girl Struggles to Walk Again

Part 2 of a 5 part series

This video series from 2007 follows Mouna, a young girl who suffered severe injuries in Iraq, learning to walk again on artificial limbs with the help of MSF surgeons and physiotherapists in Amman, Jordan. MSF opened the program in 2006 to provide specialized reconstructive surgery to civilians wounded in the conflict.

Tune in tomorrow for part 3 of Mouna’s story.

If you missed part 1 view it here.


Check out more about MSF’s work in Iraq here.

A story from the video vaults of MSF:

Mouna’s Story: An Iraqi Girl Struggles to Walk Again

Part 1 of a 5 part series

This video series from 2007 follows Mouna, a young girl who suffered severe injuries in Iraq, learning to walk again on artificial limbs with the help of MSF surgeons and physiotherapists in Amman, Jordan. MSF opened the program in 2006 to provide specialized reconstructive surgery to civilians wounded in the conflict.

Tune in tomorrow for Part 2 of Mouna’s story.

Check out more about MSF’s work in Iraq here.

Khanda Faraj Mohammed, 27 years old, mother of three and pregnant with her fourth child was severely burned in a car bomb explosion while shopping in the market of Kirkuk in Iraq. She is being treated in a program run by Medécins Sans Frontières (MSF) that cares for Iraqi victims of violence whose injuries can not be treated inside Iraq. The program is now beginning to receive patients from Yemen, Syria, Egypt and Libya in addition to Iraqis. See more on the MSF photo blog. Photo: © J.B. Russel

Khanda Faraj Mohammed, 27 years old, mother of three and pregnant with her fourth child was severely burned in a car bomb explosion while shopping in the market of Kirkuk in Iraq. She is being treated in a program run by Medécins Sans Frontières (MSF) that cares for Iraqi victims of violence whose injuries can not be treated inside Iraq. The program is now beginning to receive patients from Yemen, Syria, Egypt and Libya in addition to Iraqis. See more on the MSF photo blog.

Photo: © J.B. Russel

2007MSF Returns to Iraq MSF sets up surgical programs in Iraqi Kurdistan to treat wounded civilians unable to receive adequate care in overwhelmed, under-staffed, and under-equipped hospitals in other areas of Iraq and continues to supply hospitals with medicines and equipment. Learn more about MSF’s history at our website. Photo: Iraq 2008 © Valerie Babize / MSF

2007
MSF Returns to Iraq

MSF sets up surgical programs in Iraqi Kurdistan to treat wounded civilians unable to receive adequate care in overwhelmed, under-staffed, and under-equipped hospitals in other areas of Iraq and continues to supply hospitals with medicines and equipment.

Learn more about MSF’s history at our website.

Photo: Iraq 2008 © Valerie Babize / MSF

2006Surgical Care for Victims of War in Iraq Unable to work safely in Iraq, MSF sets up a reconstructive surgical program in Amman, Jordan to treat severely war-wounded patients referred by medical colleagues in Iraq. Learn more about MSF’s history at our website. Photo: Jordan 2007 © Jiro Ose

2006
Surgical Care for Victims of War in Iraq

Unable to work safely in Iraq, MSF sets up a reconstructive surgical program in Amman, Jordan to treat severely war-wounded patients referred by medical colleagues in Iraq.

Learn more about MSF’s history at our website.

Photo: Jordan 2007 © Jiro Ose

2004Emergency in Darfur, Sudan MSF starts nutritional programs, water-and-sanitation programs, clinics, and vaccination campaigns in western Sudan and Chad, where hundreds of thousands of people have fled violence targeted against them, in what is to become in 2005 and 2006 one of the largest emergency responses in MSF’s history. Five MSF Aid Workers Murdered in Afghanistan Fasil Ahmad, Besmillah, Hélène de Bier, Pim Kwint, and Egil Tynaes are assassinated in Badghis Province. MSF leaves Afghanistan, after providing assistance for 20 years. MSF Leaves Iraq With humanitarian aid workers increasingly under attack, MSF decides that the level of risk to its staff is unacceptable and makes the difficult decision to close its medical programs. Learn more about MSF’s history at our website. Photo: Sudan 2004 © MSF/Kris Torgeson

2004
Emergency in Darfur, Sudan
MSF starts nutritional programs, water-and-sanitation programs, clinics, and vaccination campaigns in western Sudan and Chad, where hundreds of thousands of people have fled violence targeted against them, in what is to become in 2005 and 2006 one of the largest emergency responses in MSF’s history.

Five MSF Aid Workers Murdered in Afghanistan
Fasil Ahmad, Besmillah, Hélène de Bier, Pim Kwint, and Egil Tynaes are assassinated in Badghis Province. MSF leaves Afghanistan, after providing assistance for 20 years.

MSF Leaves Iraq
With humanitarian aid workers increasingly under attack, MSF decides that the level of risk to its staff is unacceptable and makes the difficult decision to close its medical programs.

Learn more about MSF’s history at our website.

Photo: Sudan 2004 © MSF/Kris Torgeson

2003US Invades Iraq MSF remains in Baghdad during the initial invasion, providing support to hospitals and clinics in selected cities. Later, MSF challenges the US government both for co-opting some aid agencies into the war effort and also for failing to uphold its responsibilities as an occupying power, as mandated by international humanitarian law, to provide adequate medical assistance to civilians. Learn more about MSF’s history at our website. Photo: Iraq 2003 © Kevin Phelan/MSF

2003
US Invades Iraq

MSF remains in Baghdad during the initial invasion, providing support to hospitals and clinics in selected cities. Later, MSF challenges the US government both for co-opting some aid agencies into the war effort and also for failing to uphold its responsibilities as an occupying power, as mandated by international humanitarian law, to provide adequate medical assistance to civilians.

Learn more about MSF’s history at our website.

Photo: Iraq 2003 © Kevin Phelan/MSF

MSF in Iraq

Going into 2011, nearly eight years after the start of the war, Iraqis continue to be affected by insecurity, violence, and uncertainty about the future. Independent humanitarian organizations still have only limited access to victims of the violence in the major population centers.

Although many health facilities inside Iraq are still functioning, the quality of care they provide has been undermined by a shortage of specialized staff and a lack of training—both consequences of the ongoing violence and the international sanctions that predated the war.

MSF has been running a range of medical programs in Iraq and in neighboring countries since 2006 to assist Iraqis in the current conflict. These activities include:

  • Medical assistance in northern Iraq
  • Counseling the traumatized in Baghdad and Fallujah
  • Improving mother and child health care in Najaf
  • Medical assistance in southern Iraq
  • Health care for Iraqi refugees in Syria

In order to ensure its independence, MSF does not accept funding from any government, religious committee or international agency for its programs in Iraq, relying solely on private donations from the general public around the world to carry out its work.

More details here: Iraq Operational Overview

Iraq: Providing Dialysis Support in Kirkuk

It is still very difficult to work in Iraq. The security situation has improved somewhat over the past two years, but it remains unstable. Within this troubled environment, MSF is trying to provide assistance to Iraqis by supporting the hospital in Kirkuk, among other activities.