Report estimates up to 55,000 deaths on all sides in Iraq war

[G_j]

**mods, I take this press release to be public domain and not subject to copyright restrictions. If there is a problem I will edit it. thanks
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FOR PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST AFTER 6:00 AM, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2003

NEW REPORT ESTIMATES UP TO 55,000 DEATHS ON ALL SIDES FROM IRAQ WAR;
Physicians and Health Workers Document "Continuing Collateral Damage"

http://www.medact.org/tbx/pages/sub.cfm?id=775

Boston - The war on Iraq and its aftermath have exacted a heavy toll of
death and injury on combatants and non-combatants, according to an
international report released today. "Continuing Collateral Damage: The
Health and Environmental Costs of War on Iraq 2003" concludes that between
21,700 and 55,000 people have died since the US/UK-led invasion, with the
number of killed and injured continuing to rise. Among the dead, the report
estimates 7,800 and 9,600 Iraqi civilians. The number of injured civilians
is estimated at 20,000. The report was drafted by Medact, the London-based
affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
(IPPNW), which organized the global release in 12 other countries.
Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), IPPNW's US affiliate, joined in
the release.

The report also documents the deterioration in the general state of
health of the Iraqi people since the war.
Health in Iraq, especially among
children, was of grave international concern before the war started, with
one in eight children dying before their fifth birthday and a quarter of
babies born underweight. The impact of the 2003 war compounded this poor
state of health, afflicting people who were already weakened.

Vulnerable groups, including women and children especially, have
suffered from the breakdown in law and order, lack of security, and damage
to infrastructure. Beleaguered Iraqi health services are unable to cope with
the health crisis. For every Ali Abbas, the severely injured and orphaned
boy now undergoing intensive treatment in the UK, there are thousands of
maimed children with no safe access to adequate health services, let alone
sophisticated rehabilitation.
"Limited access to clean water and sanitation, poverty, malnutrition,
and disruption of public services including health services continue to have
a negative impact on the health of the Iraqi people," said the report's
author Dr. Sabya Farooq.
Poor health is further jeopardized by the extensive war-related
contamination of land, rivers, and atmosphere. "The health and environmental
consequences of the war will be felt for many years to come," said Medact
President and international public health expert Dr. June Crown, who chaired
the UK press conference at the British Medical Association.

Commenting from New York, IPPNW/PSR spokesperson, Dr. Victor Sidel of
the Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine and an
advisor on the report, said, "This authoritative report, based on exhaustive
efforts to ascertain data on the death, disability, and damage caused by the
attack on Iraq, documents the health, environmental and societal
consequences of waging an ill-advised and illegal war using ferociously
destructive modern weaponry. The United States and the United Kingdom must
not only protect the health of the Iraqi people by providing massive help in
the reconstruction of the infrastructure the attackers have destroyed, but
must also make certain that future US and British policies prevent
'pre-emptive wars.'"

To produce the report, Medact undertook a comprehensive independent
survey to assess the health and environmental impact of the war since March
2003. The research was carried out by an international team of authors and
advisers, all experts on health and conflict.

The report's analysis of the postwar health situation notes that
long-term health and well-being will depend on restoration of security,
revitalization of the economy and society, and reconstruction of all
services that impact on health, including health services.

"To secure the peace, the war must end. If the health and well-being of
the Iraq people and the security of American troops and civilians at home
are the Bush Administration's priorities, then the US should work with the
United Nations on a plan to transfer administrative and security
responsibilities to the UN and multinational peacekeepers," said IPPNW's
Executive Director Michael Christ. He reported that the study was also
released by IPPNW affiliates in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France,
Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland.

The report, an Executive Summary and additional material are available
at http://www.medact.org/ and http://www.ippnw.org/ after 8:00 am on
November 11. The report is available in English, Arabic, and Italian. The
Executive Summary is available in English, Arabic, Sorani Kurdish and other
languages. Non-English language versions of the materials will be available
only on Medact's website.
Printed copies of the report and Executive Summary are available upon
request.

Medical experts on the health and environmental effects of war as well
as mental health and war are available for interviews.

To arrange for interviews, contact Lynn Martin in the US at tel:
617-868-5050, x209 or e-mail [e-mail]; James Snyder in the US at
202-667-4260, x215 or e-mail [e-mail]; in the UK, contact Gill Reeve,
at tel: [phone]; e-mail: [e-mail].

The report is published in association with IPPNW and was part-funded by
Oxfam and the Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation.

[G_j]

1. is this compelling? n/t