Unshielded Iraqis

The War had created scores of problems to the wellbeing of the Iraqi people. The War in 1991 (Gulf War) and 2003 (Iraq War) has made an immense impact on the Iraqi troops along with the health of the civilians of the country. It is difficult on anybody's part to make an exact evaluation of the after effects of the recent war, thus speculations continue to persist. Evidences of 1991 and 1998 war have shown that the civilians had to pay the price of their vigor to get through the war living or dead.

In particular, the Americans used numerous untested weaponries on Iraq. The effects of these weapons were devastating and remained for a long term. This chemical warfare exposed the civilians to deadly amounts of Uranium, pesticides and insecticides. In the initial phase of war, there were severe air attacks. In a war, when a shell hits a tank the temperature sky rockets to unimaginable proportions, leaving behind a residue of exhausted Uranium spray that can travel great distances from the war location. Combined with the air, it inhabits our respiratory organism which is detrimental to the body. It also can affect the soil and water supply and hence can be very dangerous In addition to this are the burning oil fields.

Causes of Demolition of Infrastructure:

The destructions of the infrastructure hit sanitation system and water purification & supply system also. Because of that, people in some region of Iraq were not getting the water supply. And the people who were getting the water were having health related troubles because of the polluted water. Moreover, the lack of funds made it difficult to purchase the spare parts required to renovate these facilities. Constant attacks were the reason for the less man power for the sanitation system.

Diseases:

Iraqis have suffered from some severe dieses like Cancer, Neurological Disorders, Leukemia and Birth Defects. These were the common dieses in Iraq at that time. After the Gulf war in 1991, there was a significant increase of count in the cases of Leukemia and cancer patients in Iraq. The cases of babies born with birth defects and miscarriages also increased alarmingly. There was a dramatic increase in the birth defects from 1990 to 2001. The count of the deaths because of cancer increased from 34 to 601 within a short time span of 3 years from 1998. This is just a glimpse of ill-effects of the Gulf war between 1991 and 1998.

Psychological Effects on Children:

There were some psychological effects of the war on Iraqi children too. There was a descriptive study by the group of psychologists on the 75% of the children of Iraq. According to the study, 66% of those children could not even sleep properly and were not sure whether they would stay alive or not. The team realized that the prevalence of these kinds of problems was very high compare to other conflicts. Healthcare thus, has taken a heavy toll which needs a reformation on all the fronts.