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<font size=4><b>Huge Rise In Birth Defects In Falluja<br><br>
</font><font size=3>By Martin Chulov <br><br>
</b>14 November, 2009 <br>
<b>
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/13/falluja-cancer-children-birth-defects">
The Guardian</a><br>
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/13/falluja-cancer-children-birth-defects" eudora="autourl">
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/13/falluja-cancer-children-birth-defects<br>
<br>
</a>Falluja: </b>Doctors in Iraq's war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are
dealing with up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants and a
spike in early life cancers that may be linked to toxic materials left
over from the fighting.<br><br>
The extraordinary rise in birth defects has crystallised over recent
months as specialists working in Falluja's over-stretched health system
have started compiling detailed clinical records of all babies
born.<br><br>
Neurologists and obstetricians in the city interviewed by the Guardian
say the rise in birth defects - which include a baby born with two heads,
babies with multiple tumours, and others with nervous system problems -
are unprecedented and at present unexplainable.<br><br>
A group of Iraqi and British officials, including the former Iraqi
minister for women's affairs, Dr Nawal Majeed a-Sammarai, and the British
doctors David Halpin and Chris Burns-Cox, have petitioned the UN general
assembly to ask that an independent committee fully investigate the
defects and help clean up toxic materials left over decades of war -
including the six years since Saddam Hussein was ousted.<br><br>
"We are seeing a very significant increase in central nervous system
anomalies," said Falluja general hospital's director and senior
specialist, Dr Ayman Qais. "Before 2003 [the start of the war] I was
seeing sporadic numbers of deformities in babies. Now the frequency of
deformities has increased dramatically."<br><br>
The rise in frequency is stark - from two admissions a fortnight a year
ago to two a day now. "Most are in the head and spinal cord, but
there are also many deficiencies in lower limbs," he said.
"There is also a very marked increase in the number of cases of less
than two years [old] with brain tumours. This is now a focus area of
multiple tumours."<br><br>
After several years of speculation and anecdotal evidence, a picture of a
highly disturbing phenomenon in one of Iraq's most battered areas has now
taken shape. Previously all miscarried babies, including those with birth
defects or infants who were not given ongoing care, were not listed as
abnormal cases.<br><br>
The Guardian asked a paediatrician, Samira Abdul Ghani, to keep precise
records over a three-week period. Her records reveal that 37 babies with
anomalies, many of them neural tube defects, were born during that period
at Falluja general hospital alone.<br><br>
Dr Bassam Allah, the head of the hospital's children's ward, this week
urged international experts to take soil samples across Falluja and for
scientists to mount an investigation into the causes of so many ailments,
most of which he said had been "acquired" by mothers before or
during pregnancy.<br><br>
Other health officials are also starting to focus on possible reasons,
chief among them potential chemical or radiation poisonings. Abnormal
clusters of infant tumours have also been repeatedly cited in Basra and
Najaf - areas that have in the past also been intense battle zones where
modern munitions have been heavily used.<br><br>
Falluja's frontline doctors are reluctant to draw a direct link with the
fighting. They instead cite multiple factors that could be
contributors.<br><br>
"These include air pollution, radiation, chemicals, drug use during
pregnancy, malnutrition, or the psychological status of the mother,"
said Dr Qais. "We simply don't have the answers yet."<br><br>
The anomalies are evident all through Falluja's newly opened general
hospital and in centres for disabled people across the city. On 2
November alone, there were four cases of neuro-tube defects in the
neo-natal ward and several more were in the intensive care ward and an
outpatient clinic.<br><br>
Falluja was the scene of the only two setpiece battles that followed the
US-led invasion. Twice in 2004, US marines and infantry units were
engaged in heavy fighting with Sunni militia groups who had aligned with
former Ba'athists and Iraqi army elements.<br><br>
The first battle was fought to find those responsible for the deaths of
four Blackwater private security contractors working for the US. The city
was bombarded heavily by American artillery and fighter jets.
Controversial weaponry was used, including white phosphorus, which the US
government admitted deploying.<br><br>
Statistics on infant tumours are not considered as reliable as new data
about nervous system anomalies, which are usually evident immediately
after birth. Dr Abdul Wahid Salah, a neurosurgeon, said: "With
neuro-tube defects, their heads are often larger than normal, they can
have deficiencies in hearts and eyes and their lower limbs are often
listless. There has been no orderly registration here in the period after
the war and we have suffered from that. But [in relation to the rise in
tumours] I can say with certainty that we have noticed a sharp rise in
malignancy of the blood and this is not a congenital anomaly - it is an
acquired disease."<br><br>
Despite fully funding the construction of the new hospital, a
well-equipped facility that opened in August, Iraq's health ministry
remains largely disfunctional and unable to co-ordinate a response to the
city's pressing needs.<br><br>
The government's lack of capacity has led Falluja officials, who have
historically been wary of foreign intervention, to ask for help from the
international community. "Even in the scientific field, there has
been a reluctance to reach out to the exterior countries," said Dr
Salah. "But we have passed that point now. I am doing multiple
surgeries every day. I have one assistant and I am obliged to do
everything myself."<br><br>
Additional reporting: Enas Ibrahim. <br><br>
© 2009 Guardian News and Media Limited<br><br>
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