IRAQ: WV brings drugs to struggling hospital

IRAQ: World Vision brings drugs to struggling hospital

World Vision today delivered emergency drugs to a northern Iraqi hospital that had not received regular supplies for three months.

"We are very grateful. Nobody knew when we would get drugs again," said Dr Ahmed Al-Sarraff, a registrar at the Telafar General Hospital, west of Mosul, which serves a district of 500,000 people.

World Vision senior relief administrator Doris Knoechal and communicator James Addis arrived with the medical supplies which had previously been pre-positioned in Al Hassakah, Syria. They comprised the bulk of a WHO emergency health kit designed to meet the needs of 10,000 people for three months.

Hospital director Dr Shouib Ali said formerly all hospitals in the governorate had their drugs re-supplied from a central pharmacy in Mosul but the onset of war caused the system to break down.

"I have been visiting Mosul every two or three days but they don't tell us anything," Dr Ali said.

Hospital staff were especially delighted with the inclusion of intra-venous drips suitable for the treatment of gastro-enteritis and diarrhoea. The conditions were on the increase in children with the onset of summer and hotter weather.

Dr Al-Sarraff said summer also tended to produce cases of cholera since the cleanliness of the town's water supply could not be guaranteed. He said he had already heard of cases in Basra.

"The infusions (IV drips) will be good for that too, better than antibiotics," he said.

Hospital staff said although they had not yet run out of such items, stocks were desperately low.

Dr Knoechal said she would make enquires with the health authorities and other aid agencies to determine when hospitals such as Telafar and others in the governorate of Nineveh might be re-stocked.

She said if it looked as though they may continue to be without essential drugs for an extended period, World Vision would consider purchasing them in Syria and bringing them across the border.

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