Protests Over Health Chief As Cholera Hits Basra

Independent (UK) ^ | 5-8-2003 | Donald Macintyre

[blam]

Protests over health chief as cholera hits Basra

By Donald Macintyre in Baghdad
08 May 2003

A total of 17 confirmed cases of cholera were reported yesterday by the World Health Organisation in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

The number of confirmed cholera cases pointed to a probable outbreak of the waterborne disease among "several hundreds of people", the World Health Organisation said. The city's water treatment system shut down after US-led air strikes damaged the electric grid, leaving large parts of the city without clean water for several weeks.

Meanwhile, doctors in Baghdad angrily confronted the new head of the Health Ministry, formerly a prominent member of Saddam Hussein's regime, in protest at his appointment.

Doctors wearing their white coats peeled off from a demonstration of around 400 colleagues to hold heated exchanges with Ali Shnan al-Janabi, who was number three at the Health Ministry under President Saddam and has been appointed by the US-led Organisation of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Affairs to head the ministry.

Imad Saud, a resident in cardiothoracic surgery, said: "Before the war, al-Janabi "was a faithful servant of Saddam. How can we trust him?"

[Russell Scott]

I'm so happy to see the UN's sudden concern for the health of the Iraqi people. Sure didn't seem to care when the mortality rate of Iraq became one of the highest in the world under the UN's food for bribes program. This may be a new world record for rank hypocrisy, and makes Bill Bennett look like Mother Teresa’s male counterpart.

[thatsnotnice]

The city's water treatment system shut down after US-led air strikes damaged the electric grid, leaving large parts of the city without clean water for several weeks.

I'd heard reports that many homes hadn't had water for a decade. It was a tool used by Saddam to reward areas that supported him - support him and you get water and electricity, don't support him and you go without.

I don't know that the area in the report I heard about was Basra, but there have evidently been people doing without for a long time.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I'm so happy to see the UN's sudden concern for the health of the Iraqi people.

Heartwarming isn't it?

Cholera is easy to cause, easy to get, easy to treat and the very devil to have. The poor dudes that have it are going to wish that they were dead before they get better but no one should actually die of cholera.

[prairiebreeze]

US air strikes didn't damage the grid--Ba'athists did that.

Prairie