Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
You have heard this morning a litany of horrific statistics that portray the despair of the Iraqi people. The situation is bad, really bad, and rapidly getting worse.
Sectarian tensions and armed conflict are shutting off opportunities for displaced populations to find safe refuge. Access to essential health services is an immediate need for nearly 7 million people. The population directly served through the current 77 health centres and projects is conservatively estimated at nearly 2.7 million people.
Health facilities are overloaded and medicines and supplies are running short, even at large referral hospitals. In four of the most severely affected areas, 14 hospitals and more than 160 health facilities have been damaged or destroyed. In some areas, more than 45% of all health professionals have fled for their lives.
Let me stress: international humanitarian law that calls for the protection of health care workers, hospitals, and ambulances must be respected by all parties to the conflict.
Public services, for health, water, and sanitation, are collapsing. Crowded, unsanitary conditions bring a high risk of infectious diseases, especially for the millions who have been internally displaced. Extreme summer heat adds to the risk as well as the scale of human misery.
Cases of measles are now being reported from all 18 governorates. Cholera is endemic. Leishmaniasis is on the rise.
Two cases of polio confirmed last year ended Iraq’s 14-year status as free from this disease. This tells us that the health system has collapsed. As we know from past experience, the poliovirus is adept at exploiting opportunities opened by conflict.
People with chronic conditions, like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, need regular supplies of medicine. For most, treatments have been interrupted.
The national supply chain for essential medicines has broken down. Humanitarian agencies attempting to fill the gap are impaired by insecurity, inaccessibility to roads, shortages of fuel, and erratic electricity which disrupts the cold chain.
Despite these challenges, WHO and its partners in the health cluster have, so far, done much to keep essential health services running. Millions have been reached with essential medicines and services, even in areas where conflict is raging. Children are being vaccinated. But without funds, 84% of all current health projects and health centres will close before the end of June.
Think about what this means for the people of Iraq. A pregnant woman trying to give birth safely. A child with pneumonia or diarrhoea, diseases that become deadly if not treated in time. A person with high blood pressure who needs medicine to prevent stroke or a heart attack. Plus all those injured and in need of trauma care, or pain relief at the least.
And think about what this means for health security in the region and beyond. Outbreaks and viruses do not respect borders.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As I conclude, let me again stress: the people of Iraq need help, desperately.
Caring for the health needs of these people is a humanitarian imperative, but also a perquisite for the country’s long-term recovery and stability.
Because so much can be done with simple and inexpensive interventions, funding for health makes an out-sized contribution to the relief of misery and despair for so many millions.
Give these people some hope, please.
Thank you.