Iraq: TB cases soar since occupation

Azzaman: Tuberculosis (TB) cases have soared in the country since the U.S.-led invasion more than two years ago, Iraqi doctors say.

The increase in cases is mainly due to shortages of medicine and poor health conditions, they say.

There are currently 2,668 registered TB patients only in Baghdad, according to Dr. Dhafer Salman head of the Health Ministry's Department for Chest and Respiratory Diseases.

He said there were 10,498 registered TB cases in the whole country while the number was 4,753 in 1990.

The country's once comprehensive health service with efficient infrastructure has all but collapsed in the 1990s due to U.N. trade sanctions which the U.S. strongly supported and forcefully maintained.

Conditions have not improved since the U.S. invaded the country with hospitals and Primary Health Care centers suffering from shortages of medicine, qualified personnel and poor conditions.

Before the sanctions and the U.S. invasion, Iraqi population enjoyed the benefits of one of the better health cares systems in the entire Middle East.

The system kept tuberculosis under control for nearly 50 years only to see it spreading once again in the aftermath of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Read more