Iraq
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| Surveyor during a household survey. Where comprehensive systems of population monitoring are weak, special surveys are essential to monitor threats to health and well-being. |
Humanitarian Assessments
We have led some of the major assessments of humanitarian conditions in this country since 1996. These include the major early assessment of the impact of the Oil for Food Program, the largest humanitarian supply program since the Marshall Plan in post-WW II Europe. We assisted the World Food Program to evaluate the adequacy of rations under that program, and compared qualitative and quantitative research on nutritional status and food adequacy in northern Iraq. We helped coordinate the UNICEF/Ministry of Health 10 year review of programs in 2000, assessed the likely humanitarian impact of the 2003 invasion for pre-war planning, provided on-the-ground support to the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization, and the International Medical Corp in the months following that invasion, and took part in a evaluation of the Oil for Food program under sponsorship of the Independent (Volker Committee).
Protection of Noncombatants
As a partner in field research led by Mustansiriya University in Baghdad, we carried out the first representative sample survey of household changes in mortality rates throughout the country. This research, published in The Lancet in October 2004, identified violence as the number one cause of death in the country and air strikes as the number one cause of violent death. This resulted in hundreds of newspaper articles, comments from several prime or foreign ministers, and an unprecedented White Paper in response from the British Foreign Office.
Reconstruction and Capacity Development Among Health Workers
Under current insecure conditions there are almost no foreign health workers or educators in Iraq. We are exploring the use of Geographic Information Systems to strengthen Management Information Systems and extend the reach of universities for virtual on-site training.
With IMC, we sponsored and help organize the first national nursing conference, in the summer of 2004.
In 2005 we assisted the Ministry of Health to plan the development of human resources, including nursing, for the health system in the coming years.
Publications
Garfield R. Health and Well-Being in Iraq: Sanctions and the Impact of the Oil for Food Program. Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems 2001, 11(2), 278-297.
Garfield R, Dresden E, Boyle J. Health Care in Iraq. Nursing Outlook, July/August 2003; 51(4);171-7.
Roberts L, Lafta R, Garfield R, Khudhairi J, Burnham G. Mortality before and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: a cluster sample survey. The Lancet. Online publication 10/29/04. http://image.thelancet.com/extras/04art10342web.pdf. Volume 364 Issue 9448 Page 1857 - 64.
Garfield R. Nightingale in Iraq. Am J Nursing 2005; 105 (2): 69-72.
Garfield R, Fayne McCarthy C. Nursing and Nursing Education in Iraq : Challenges and Opportunities. Int Nurs Rev. 2005 Sep;52(3):180-5.
Diaz J, Garfield R. Iraq Health and Nutrition Watching Brief. WHO and UNICEF, 7 2003. http://www.hiciraq.org/coordination/sectoral/health/index_txt.asp