Iraqi Kids Suffer at Underfunded Hospital

[Snellius]

BAGHDAD, Iraq June 4, 2004 — At Baghdad's General Teaching Hospital for Children, children die each week from diarrhea because of poor sanitation, shortages of medical equipment and poorly trained staff. Diarrhea is common in the hot summer.

Three-month-old Ali twists his emaciated body and cries but barely a sound comes out of his mouth. He's so sick from diarrhea and dehydration that his mother fears he won't make it. Doctors aren't sure either.

Even though improved medical care is a stated priority of U.S. occupation authorities, medicine is still costly and in short supply. Often, parents must buy medicine on the open market at prices many cannot afford.
...
Cockroaches roam hospital wards and pools of urine in the corridors are not unusual. There is an overpowering stench from toilets that overflow into the wards; sewage sometimes runs through the corridors.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040604_1213.html

[gottaB]

1. More photos from the teaching hospital, by Anja Niedringhaus (AP)

An Iraqi woman carries her child into the bathroom of the General Teaching Hospital for Children in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 4, 2004. The bathrooms are in such a state of disrepair that they frequently overflow, spreading infections. More than a year of U.S. occupation has not significantly improved health care in Iraq.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040604/481/ans10606041616





Iraqi policeman Ali Hassoun al-Hayali attends his three month old grandson Hussein Ibrahim in the General Teaching Hospital for Children in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 4, 2004. More than a year of U.S. occupation has not significantly improved health care in Iraq.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040604/481/ans10306041611




An Iraqi mother waits for treatment with her daughter, who is suffering from diarrhea, in the waiting room of the General Teaching Hospital for Children in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, June 3, 2004. More than a year of U.S. occupation has not significantly improved health care in Iraq.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040604/481/ans10606041616





Iraqi men wait for their children to get treatment in the General Teaching Hospital for Children in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, June 3, 2004. The slide was a present from the U.S. Army when they visited the hospital in October 2003. More than a year of U.S. occupation has not significantly improved health care in Iraq.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040604/481/ans10906041626

[Barrett808]

2. I thought Laura Bush was going to take care of this

With her pet children's hospital in Iraq. And all that.