Drought has left many regions of Iraq severely short of water. Contaminated drinking water has led to outbreaks of severe diarrhoea, mainly in northern areas. Diarrhoea outbreaks were also reported in Fallujah, Anbar governorate, as a result of problems with the sewerage system.


Emergency medical response

"During the month of August alone, we distributed more than 7 tonnes of medical assistance to seven hospitals to help them cope with the influx of casualties resulting from bomb attacks in Diyala, Babil and Baghdad governorates,” said Pascal Olle, the ICRC's health coordinator. “Iraqi medical personnel continue to face huge challenges in their daily work in most parts of the country."

The ICRC, working with the Iraqi ministry of health, is supporting Iraqi medical facilities by providing urgently needed supplies for treating the sick and wounded. Between them, 13 hospitals in the governorates of Baghdad, Basra, Dohuk, Erbil, Missan, Najaf, Sulaymaniyah and Thi-Qar received more than 26 tonnes of medical supplies.

Bartilla primary healthcare centre in Ninawa governorate received more than two tonnes of medical supplies to cope with increased demand related to the large number of internally displaced people who have sought refuge in the Five Forts area, about 15 km east of Mosul.

The Fallujah General Hospital received fluids and other medical supplies for treating patients suffering from acute diarrhoea.


Visiting people deprived of their freedom

ICRC delegates regularly visit people held by the US-led force, Iraqi authorities and the Kurdistan regional government. These visits enable the ICRC to monitor detainees’ treatment and conditions of detention. During the month of August, the ICRC made five visits to five places of detention.

The ICRC held a series of seminars in Erbil, Dohuk, and Sulaymaniyah for groups involved in ensuring respect for the judicial guarantees to which persons deprived of their freedom are entitled. Judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers, investigators and interrogators discussed the practical problems they face in their work. Judicial guarantees include the right to see a lawyer and to have clear legal charges brought against each detainee.


Maintaining contact between detainees and their relatives

The ICRC continued to facilitate the exchange of family news between detainees and their families. In addition to exchanging written Red Cross messages (RCMs), delegates make what are known as "salamat" calls to detainees’ families, passing on their greetings orally. During the month of August, some 20,000 RCMs and salamats were exchanged.

The ICRC continued to contribute to the travel and accommodation costs of Iraqi families from all over the country, and abroad, helping them visit relatives detained in Camp Bucca near Basra. More than 7,000 families benefited from this support during the month of August.


Providing drinking water

In August, the ICRC finished the installation of a pre-fabricated clinic in Al-Waleed, on the border with Syria, including water supply, sewage and electrical systems. The clinic will serve up to 1,600 displaced persons and 1,000 residents.

The ICRC also provided a total of 385,000 litres of drinking water, in the form of water bags, to people in rural areas affected by seasonal outbreaks of acute diarrhoea caused by contaminated water, and to pilgrims participating in religious processions.

The ICRC issued supplies of drinking water to:

• the directorate of health in Baquba (Diyala governorate);
• Abu Ghraib general hospital (Anbar governorate);
• the directorate of health and the Iraqi Red Crescent Society branch in Kerbala city (Kerbala governorate);
• Palestinian refugees in Al-Waleed camp, on the border with Syria.

Supporting medico-legal facilities

The ICRC is helping Iraqi medico-legal facilities enhance their ability to handle corpses, thereby preventing an increase in the number of unidentified and/or unclaimed corpses.

The ICRC has been upgrading and renovating the water, sewerage and electrical systems of the medico-legal centre in Baquba, Diyala governorate, together with the structure of the building itself. The organization is currently installing five new mortuary fridges with a total capacity of 60 corpses at the Baghdad medico-legal facility.


Assisting physically disabled people

The ICRC runs the physical rehabilitation centre in Erbil and supports eight more centres in Baghdad, Tikrit, Hilla, Najaf and Basra, as well as the IRCS centre in Mosul. Between them, these centres treat over 2,000 patients every month.

The ICRC regularly provides the materials and equipment needed to manufacture crutches and artificial limbs, plus training for specialized personnel.


Ensuring livelihoods for war-affected farmers and returnees

Livestock breeding represents a major source of income for people in the disputed areas between central and northern Iraq.

Diseases kill large numbers of livestock, so the ICRC has been working with the Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Agriculture to complete the last phase of an animal vaccination campaign in Makhmour, Erbil governorate, which started in May. The ICRC helped pay for vaccines and covered part of the costs of transporting the vaccination teams to the local centres in the Makhmour area.

"Almost 120,000 sheep and goats in 176 villages have now been vaccinated against the pox virus,” said Barbara Hunziker, the ICRC's economic security coordinator. “The campaign has achieved its objective of keeping livestock healthy, helping about 800 families of war-affected farmers and returnees to secure their crucial source of income."