RIYADH, 7 April 2003 — More than 200 doctors and pharmacists from seven government and private-sector hospitals here have appealed to the UN and its specialized agencies to stop the war against Iraq. They warned that the infant mortality rate in Iraq, already high at around 130 per 1,000 live births, could worsen with the on-going war.
Copies of the signed petition will be submitted to the representatives of the UN, WHO and UNICEF today on the occasion of World Health Day. The day’s theme for this year is “Healthy Environments for Children.” The Ministry of Health is also marking the event.
The petitioners called on the UN, WHO and UNICEF “to play a role to stop this unfair war.” They asked the organizations to protect Iraqi children from killing, Iraqi women from hurt, Gulf countries from pollution and human beings in general from suffering on an unprecedented scale.
A copy of the petition was provided to Arab News by Dr. Alia Al-Rashed, pharmacist at the Kingdom Hospital, who is also a member of the Healthcare Group in Saudi Arabia, consisting of doctors, pharmacists and paramedical staff.
Dr. Alia, a Saudi pharmacist, said the under-five mortality rate was already high in Iraq, which had been reeling from the sanctions imposed since the end of the 1991 Gulf War. She said that even before the war began Iraqi children were highly vulnerable to disease and malnutrition. “One in four children under five is chronically malnourished. One in eight die before their fifth birthday. They are living under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.”
Millions of Iraqi children and women are at risk because they are exposed to severe pollution from the burning oil fields and the wrecks of tanks, trucks and buildings set on fire by the coalition forces in Iraq.
Dr. Alia said that the theme of this year’s World Health Day was particularly relevant for Iraqi children living in a polluted environment. The WHO stresses the need to promote a healthy environment for children, millions of whom around the world die annually from environment-related illnesses that could be saved through the creation of healthy settings at home, at school, or in the community.
