Image Courtesy: © DVIC
More BBSNews images are available in BBSNews Photos.
MIDDLE EAST: IRIN-ME Weekly round up 122 for 13-19 April 2007
BBSNews 2007-04-25 - Listed below are IRIN stories carried from the Middle East between April 13th and April 19th.
|
|
| Sewage in the streets of Ghazaliya, Iraq.
Image Courtesy: © DVIC |
|
For the image shown above in a larger size, see Sewage in the streets of Ghazaliya, Iraq. More BBSNews images are available in BBSNews Photos. |
IRAQ: UN conference on refugees raises hopes: With up to 50,000 Iraqis fleeing their homes every month because of violence, it is high time the international community did more to settle them and alleviate their suffering, was the key message at a United Nations-hosted conference in Geneva on Tuesday.
Organised by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the two-day event brought together more than 450 representatives of 60 nations to seek ways of addressing the deepening humanitarian crisis of nearly four million Iraqis who have been displaced by the conflict in their country.
IRAQ: Insecurity and lack of funds prevent cleansing of polluted sites: There are up to 400 polluted sites in Iraq that are serious health hazards to the population and urgently need to be cleaned, according to a specialist in the Iraqi government. But ongoing violence, particularly the targeting of municipal workers, and a lack of funds is hampering clean-up efforts.
IRAQ: Doctors warn of summer dehydration among children and the elderly: Doctors are warning of a possible increase in diseases among children and the elderly as Iraq's hot summer months begin. Dehydration, cholera and bacterial infections are of the greatest concern, they say.
"The sewage and electrical systems in Iraq have completely deteriorated, worsening the situation, especially for children, as summer begins," said Dr Ibraheem Kaduri, a paediatrician at the Children Teaching Hospital in the capital, Baghdad.
IRAQ: Thousands missing since war began: When 53-year-old Tina Abdallah celebrated the fall of deceased former President Saddam Hussein in March 2003, she had no idea that her suffering had just begun. Four years on, the mother of two is desperate for news about her sons who have disappeared in separate incidents following the US-led invasion of 2003.
Because of unrelenting violence hampering all efforts to collect data, the number of people who have disappeared in Iraq since 2003 is not known. But aid workers estimate the figure to be in the tens of thousands.
ISRAEL-OPT: "Poor medical treatment" for prisoners in Israel: Ahmed Tamimi, a Palestinian serving life in an Israeli prison, needs a kidney transplant - but four years after his nephew Amin came forward as a donor, the Israeli authorities say that they will not pay for the operation.
The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) medical chief, Alex Adler, told IRIN the IPS would not pay for the transplant because Tamimi does not need it urgently.
YEMEN: Anti-polio campaign kicks off: Yemen's Ministry of Health and Population in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday began a three-day sub-national polio immunisation drive in eight provinces.
The campaign is targeting 1.3 million children who are under five years of age.
About 22,000 health workers and volunteers are participating, moving from house to house in the provinces of Sana'a, Taiz, al-Baidha, Mareb, al-Jawf, Saada and Shabwa, in addition to the capital city, Sana'a.
Comments (0)