This summer in Iraq is looking like it will be a very bad time for some people. Especially among children and the elderly.
Why? There is no easy access to clean water...
"But we can’t forget that children could also drink dirty water from rivers to quench their thirst, and with the contaminated water, they can be susceptible to diseases like cholera and diarrhoea," he said. "These children have no access to ventilators and air coolers and with temperatures sometimes reaching 48 to 50 degrees Celsius, it could be disastrous for them."
Hotter weather will also greatly impact on the health of the elderly, according to Dr Fareed Jaboury, a geriatrician at Medical City Hospital. Many of Iraq’s elderly already suffer from dehydration caused by a lack of a balanced diet, he said. The displaced elderly, in particular, show symptoms of skin disorders caused by low water consumption.
more after the fold
Some more detail on Dehydration:
Jaboury said that last year incidences of dehydration increased considerably during the summer months. This year, with living conditions having deteriorated considerably, Jaboury is worried that "the number of cases might increase drastically".
"Nothing can be done to reverse the situation because there is no time to repair infrastructure. And with continued violence, displaced families will be forced to stay the whole summer in displacement camps or abandoned government buildings," he said.
No official figures are available on the number of deaths caused by dehydration among children and the elderly in Iraq. However, according to the Children Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, last summer at least 28 children died from dehydration caused by hot weather. Most of the dead were below five years of age while dozens of others were treated for chronic conditions.
More articles about this future problem;
IRAQ: Water shortage leads people to drink from rivers
Millions of Iraqis lack potable water and live with bad sewage systems, which have increased the incidence of waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea.
"The water shortage is a real problem in some parts of Iraq as a large part of the country is desert. But the existing networks have also suffered from lack of maintenance or by being destroyed during the war," said Cedric Turlan, information officer for the NGOs Coordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI).
In short:
32% of the Iraq population have access to drinking water
19% of the population have access to a good sewage system
60 percent of the population in areas such as Anbar province and the suburbs of Baghdad are directly using river water for domestic uses
number of cases of diarrhoea among children has increased by 70% since the beginning of 2006
number of cases of diarrhoea among adults has increased by 40% since begining of 2006
95 percent of the cases were due to contaminated water from rivers
why isn't this being fixed?
"The constant targeting of government employees [by insurgents and militia groups] has delayed the repairing of water and sewage systems in many areas countrywide. Especially in Baghdad, Fallujah, and Ramadi [100km west of Baghdad and the capital of Anbar province] and nearby cities, the situation is more dangerous because they are hot spots," said Rassi.
"In addition to this serious problem is a lack of funds for infrastructure projects and with millions of dollars lost in corruption, our work is getting harder each day," Fua’ad Rassi, a spokesman at the Ministry of Municipality and Public Works added.
UNICEF has been helping but...
Future diseases for children
UNICEF launched a water tanker service in April 2003 to help the worst-affected families in Baghdad. Tanker trucks full of safe drinking water were sent daily to the most deprived areas of the capital, Baghdad, and Basra in the south of the country.
Last year, UNICEF tankers reached about 120,000 people per day in Baghdad, delivering 400 million litres of safe water to 10 residential areas, five schools and six main hospitals – as well as to a growing number of displaced families in the capital.
But lack of funds has forced UNICEF this month to halt its water service.
"Latest reports suggest we are already seeing an increase in diarrhoea cases, even before the usual onset of the ‘diarrhoea season’ in June. It is particularly worrying that water tankering services have had to be halted in Baghdad this month due to lack of funds," Wright said.
The article is dated March 26, 2007.
The deaths that the lack of clean water is causing and will cause in the future will never get the public notice that bombings/shootings will get, but...
Everyone will have problems getting enough water. Thousands of children and the elderly, even normally health adults, will get sick, many will die.
This is an underlining problem which cause people to get angry. (I need water for my child!) That anger will cause more violence...
While the deaths due to violence will probably be more than the deaths due to lack of clean water... I do wonder how many will die this summer....
Thank you for reading
jeff