July 1, 2003

NEW YORK - The global humanitarian agency Church World Service this week is shipping $1.2 million in donated medical supplies to Iraq, reports CWS Executive Director the Rev. John McCullough. The medical supplies are to be used in local hospitals and medical facilities.

With the United States focused on law and order and rebuilding efforts, "Church World Service is keeping front and center the extreme humanitarian and health conditions that many Iraqi people are still experiencing - especially the children," notes McCullough.

Church World Service International Disaster Response Consultant Steve Weaver is coordinating the medical supply shipment's late July arrival in Jordan, and then overland transport to Iraq. The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation donated shipping funds for the supplies, which include surgical kits and sterile surgical components.

Weaver, speaking by satellite phone from Baghdad today, said humanitarian aid efforts continue even though the security situation is "not great." Non-governmental organizations continue to serve as a lifeline especially in the health sector as the provisional authority struggles to get Iraq's public health system back up to full capacity.

Medical needs continue to be one of the highest priorities in Iraq. United Nations officials reported last week (6/26) that Iraq's health care system is operating at no more than half of its capacity. That "extremely fragile" system is struggling to cope as pre-existing problems were exacerbated by the war and its chaotic aftermath, marked by confusion, insecurity and a widespread lack of basic public services.

According to the United Nations report, malnutrition among children has doubled in some parts of the country since the start of the war. In Baghdad, acute malnutrition rates had increased to 7.7 percent of children under five, reflecting an increase from 4 percent before the war. Richard Alderslade, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization, told Reuters, "The public health system is deteriorating with an increase in child morbidity, child diarrhea, poor maternal management."

"There is quite a lot of confusion still," Weaver said. Authorities "are not sure what medical supplies are in storage, and distribution systems have broken down. We had a tough, tough stretch about a week ago," he added. "There were 24-hour periods where there was neither water nor electricity, with temperatures reaching 110 degrees during the day. The last couple of days have been better - with service at about 50 percent."

The $1.2 million donation of medical supplies continues the more than a decade-long engagement of Church World Service in meeting humanitarian needs in Iraq. From 1991 through 2002, CWS provided more than $3 million in blankets, food, medical supplies, "Gift of the Heart" School and Health Kits and other aid for families and children whose resources have been exhausted by a decade of war and subsequent trade sanctions.

In December 2002, CWS helped found the multi-agency All Our Children campaign for Iraqi children's health. Concentrating on the needs of the most vulnerable, the campaign has, to date, provided $264,000 in cash and $183,414 in-kind for medicine, medical supplies, emergency food aid, blankets, wheelchairs and hygiene supplies for pediatrics hospitals and clinics and to a program serving street children.

It is anticipated that a substantial portion of the $1.2 million in medical supplies will be distributed to pediatrics hospitals in support of the All Our Children campaign.

A global humanitarian agency supported in part by 36 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican denominations, CWS works with indigenous organizations to provide sustainable self-help development, meet emergency needs, aid uprooted people, and advocate to address the root causes of poverty and powerlessness.

NCC News Service