Zeyad the Iraqi dentist, on the "Comment is free blog", Guardian (London)

[Benbow]

Tuesday 4 April 2006
Working the Iraqi health system
Corruption at all levels means millions of dollars of investment is making no difference to suffering citizens.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/zeyad/2006/04/working_the_iraqi_health_syste.html

The Washington Post ran a recent article on the problems with US plans to construct 142 new primary care clinics across Iraq. The endless chain of subcontracting has left almost all of these clinics unfinished. Often a clinic is declared "reconstructed" after a quick paint job, and a couple of desks and stethoscopes are provided to the clinic.

I have witnessed the construction of one such clinic over the last two years. It lies on the southern Baghdad-Basra highway in Madain province. Once completed it was to serve the inhabitants of a dozen surrounding villages. The still unfinished building is now a barracks for interior ministry commandos. I've heard that numerous requests from the health ministry to abandon the site were all turned down or ignored.

But reconstruction failures are just the tip of the iceberg.

<snip>

It is very common for clinic workers to ask physicians for drug prescriptions. Usually, the pharmacist advises them to be quick and get what they can before the drugs are dispensed to patients. The nurse would ask for half a dozen of penicillin vials for her sick child, or the janitor would come to my desk with two prescription sheets asking for all kinds of drugs that wouldn't fit any medical condition. Clinic directors just pretend to look the other way. Sooner or later one would get sucked into an elaborate cycle of corruption almost impossible to break out of. You would be forced to do it to return favours and even to get your legitimate requests answered. Junior doctors would skip work and write a couple of prescriptions for the registrar to get away with it. I have experienced this trend in all three state clinics I have been employed at.