Iraq, Babil: corruption blamed for cholera outbreak

A deadly outbreak of cholera in [ in Babil province], Iraq is being blamed on a scandal involving corrupt officials who failed to sterilise the local drinking water because they were bribed to buy chlorine from Iran that was long past its expiration date.

[...] The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has appointed a commission of inquiry to find out why ineffective chlorine was being used. He is also refusing to release three officials [from the Badr Organisation, the militia wing of Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI)] under arrest despite demands from the ISCI. In the town of al-Madhatiya, in southern Babil, a councillor involved in buying the chlorine was reportedly released after militiamen connected to ISCI intimidated police into freeing him.

The scandal over the contract is becoming a test case of the Maliki government’s willingness to tackle the pervasive corruption in Iraq [and its] ability to exercise central control over ISCI and parties which have been hitherto dominant outside Baghdad.

[...] An Iraqi government official, who did not want his name published, said the Health Ministry bought $11m (£6.4m) worth of chlorine from Iran for use in the provinces of Babil, Diwaniyah and Kerbala. [...] In the latter two provinces, officials noticed that the chlorine was old [...] and refused to use it. But in Babil the chlorine was put in the fresh water supply stations at al-Madhatiyah, al-Hashimiyah and al-Qasim, south-east of the provincial capital, al-Hillah. Soon 222 people were confirmed as having cholera in Babil, in a total of 420 cases of whom seven have died.

For updates of cholera in Iraq go the WHO web site

Source: Patrick Cockburn, The Independent, 10 Oct 2008

Experts say Kurdistan’s water crisis inevitable

As neighboring dams go up, Kurdistan’s water level goes down.

The lack of clean drinking water and the destructive policies of neighboring countries [Turkey and Iran] will ultimately lead to a major loss in agricultural lands and a drought in Kurdistan Region.

Experts say the water crisis in Kurdistan Region is imminent in spite of too-late efforts to build several dams in the region.

[...]

Health officials said a lack of clean drinking water and rising temperatures in the region could spark another cholera epidemic similar to the one in 2007, which led to 2,000 infections and 24 deaths.

Read more: Khidhr Domle, The Kurdish Globe, 22 May 2008

Iraq, Kurdistan: Fears of Cholera Epidemic

A rash of patients hospitalised with diarrhoea and vomiting in northern Iraq has raised fears of a cholera outbreak across the region. In April 2008, the main hospital in Sulaimaniyah received an average of 25 patients per day with such symptoms – which are very similar to those associated with cholera. While no cases of the disease have been confirmed, officials are worried.

An outbreak in the region last year led to 2,000 infections and 24 deaths. Hardest hit was the northern city of Sulaimaniyah, where 14 people died.

Health officials said a lack of clean drinking water and rising temperatures in the region could spark a similar epidemic this year. The former coupled with poor sanitation was to blame for last year’s outbreak, which began in the province of Kirkuk and spread throughout Iraqi Kurdistan as well as Baghdad.

Read more: Azeez Mahmood, IWPR, 02 May 2008

Iraq: Baghdad residents’ health at risk for lack of water, sewage systems

BAGHDAD, 16 March 2008 (IRIN) – When Wafaa Dawood Salman was found dead in August 2007 she seemed no different from the others who had died in Iraq – her body was put in a plastic bag and sent to the morgue for relatives to collect.

Days later it was announced that the 40-year-old woman was the first confirmed cholera case in Baghdad after a national outbreak killed at least 14 people.

Read more: IRIN, 16 Mar 2008