Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 381, Issue 9870, 16–22 March 2013, Pages 891-894
The Lancet

Special Report
Roots of Iraq's maternal and child health crisis run deep

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60658-3Get rights and content

Section snippets

Maternal and child health

10 years after American and British forces toppled Saddam Hussein and helped initiate a decade of intense violence, life expectancy at birth in Iraq is 59 years—at least 12 years less than in Egypt, Syria, Morocco, and Jordan, all of which are far poorer countries. The rate of children dying in the first year of life is 32 deaths for every 1000 livebirths—about the same as it was in 1989. Yemen, with just a quarter of Iraq's per head wealth, is the only country in the region with a similar

Health spending

The roots of Iraq's maternal and child health crisis are deep. Although between 1979 and 1989 under-5 mortality rates fell from 120 to 60 per 1000 livebirths, during the 1990s, wars and economic sanctions led to an estimated 90% cut to national health spending, and serious declines in population health outcomes as many health professionals left the country. From 1990 to 1996, infant, child, and maternal mortality rates more than doubled. Progress since then, through a period of renewed violence

Health system strengthening

The talent problem at the ministry, Hussain reflects, mirrors the overall lack of medical expertise throughout the country. According to government figures, with 24 745 physicians currently in practice, Iraq's physician-to-population ratio is about 60% lower than the average for the other 23 nations in WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region. The nurse-to-patient ratio is about 35% lower than the regional average.

Migration of health professionals “is still a big concern”, according to the 2011

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