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USAID provides grants to the Ibn Al-Qiff Spinal Cord Injury Hospital
Baghdad, Iraq
October 2003
The Ibn Al-Qiff Spinal Cord Injury Hospital 15 KM northeast of Baghdad was severely damaged when the adjacent UN Headquarters was destroyed in a bomb in August 2003. The only facility of its kind in Iraq is now only able to treat the most severe patients and that is due to the dedication of staff who have not been paid in months and work under extreme conditions. A $524,500 grant from USAID for medical equipment and supplies will help get this facility back in service providing 125 bed inpatient services and and handling an estimated 25,000 outpatient visits each year.
Ahmed Ali Swedan, 11, lies in bed at the Ibn Al-Qiff Spinal Cord Injury Hospital after injuries from shelling in July 2003 left him paralyzed from the waist down. The hospital, 15 KM northeast of Baghdad, was severely damaged when the adjacent UN Headquarters was destroyed in a bomb in August 2003. The only facility of its kind in Iraq is now only able to treat the most severe patients and that is due to the dedication of staff who have not been paid in months and work under extreme conditions. A $524,500 grant from USAID for medical equipment and supplies will help get this facility back in service providing 125 bed inpatient services and and handling an estimated 25,000 outpatient visits each year.
Ahmed Ali Swedan, 11, lies in bed at the Ibn Al-Qiff Spinal Cord Injury Hospital after injuries from shelling in July 2003 left him paralized from the waist down. His mother helps care for him. The hospital, 15 KM northeast of Baghdad, was severely damaged when the adjacent UN Headquarters was destroyed in a bomb in August 2003. The only facility of its kind in Iraq is now only able to treat the most severe patients and that is due to the dedication of staff who have not been paid in months and work under extreme conditions. A $524,500 grant from USAID for medical equipment and supplies will help get this facility back in service providing 125 bed inpatient services and and handling an estimated 25,000 outpatient visits each year.
Saeda Thehawey Hassin, 13, lies in bed at the Ibn Al-Qiff Spinal Cord Injury Hospital after injuries from a bullet in the back on September 10, 2003 left her paralized from the waist down. The hospital, 15 KM northeast of Baghdad, was severely damaged when the adjacent UN Headquarters was destroyed in a bomb in August 2003. The only facility of its kind in Iraq is now only able to treat the most severe patients and that is due to the dedication of staff who have not been paid in months and work under extreme conditions. A $524,500 grant from USAID for medical equipment and supplies will help get this facility back in service providing 125 bed inpatient services and and handling an estimated 25,000 outpatient visits each year.
Dr. Samyan Nife attends to Al Abdullah Ali, 21, at the Ibn Al-Qiff Spinal Cord Injury Hospital after injuries he suffered in a diving accident on June 10, 2003 left him paralized from the waist down. The hospital, 15 KM northeast of Baghdad, was severely damaged when the adjacent UN Headquarters was destroyed in a bomb in August 2003. The only facility of its kind in Iraq is now only able to treat the most severe patients and that is due to the dedication of staff who have not been paid in months and work under extreme conditions. A $524,500 grant from USAID for medical equipment and supplies will help get this facility back in service providing 125 bed inpatient services and and handling an estimated 25,000 outpatient visits each year.
Al Abdullah Ali, 21, lies in bed at the Ibn Al-Qiff Spinal Cord Injury Hospital after injuries he suffered in a diving accident on June 10, 2003 left him paralized from the waist down. The hospital, 15 KM northeast of Baghdad, was severely damaged when the adjacent UN Headquarters was destroyed in a bomb in August 2003. The only facility of its kind in Iraq is now only able to treat the most severe patients and that is due to the dedication of staff who have not been paid in months and work under extreme conditions. A $524,500 grant from USAID for medical equipment and supplies will help get this facility back in service providing 125 bed inpatient services and and handling an estimated 25,000 outpatient visits each year.
Dr.Samyan Nife inspects damage at the Ibn Al-Qiff Spinal Cord Injury Hospital. The hospital, 15 KM northeast of Baghdad, was severely damaged when the adjacent UN Headquarters was destroyed in a bomb in August 2003. The only facility of its kind in Iraq is now only able to treat the most severe patients and that is due to the dedication of staff who have not been paid in months and work under extreme conditions. A $524,500 grant from USAID for medical equipment and supplies will help get this facility back in service providing 125 bed inpatient services and and handling an estimated 25,000 outpatient visits each year.
The Ibn Al-Qiff Spinal Cord Injury Hospital, 15 KM northeast of Baghdad was severely damaged when the adjacent UN Headquarters was destroyed in a bomb in August 2003. The only facility of its kind in Iraq is now only able to treat the most severe patients and that is due to the dedication of staff who have not been paid in months and work under extreme conditions. A $524,500 grant from USAID for medical equipment and supplies will help get this facility back in service providing 125 bed inpatient services and and handling an estimated 25,000 outpatient visits each year.
The physical therapy room at the Ibn Al-Qiff Spinal Cord Injury Hospital 15 KM northeast of Baghdad was severely damaged when the adjacent UN Headquarters was destroyed in a bomb in August 2003. The only facility of its kind in Iraq is now only able to treat the most severe patients and that is due to the dedication of staff who have not been paid in months and work under extreme conditions. A $524,500 grant from USAID for medical equipment and supplies will help get this facility back in service providing 125 bed inpatient services and and handling an estimated 25,000 outpatient visits each year.

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Accomplishments: Health

A healthy population is vital to development and economic growth. Health conditions in Iraq deteriorated substantially under Saddam Hussein. By 2003, almost a third of the children in the south and central part of the country were malnourished. Low breastfeeding rates, high rates of anemia among women, low birth weight, diarrhea, and acute respiratory infections caused one in eight children to die before their fifth birthday. After the conflict, services were disrupted and equipment, medicine, and supplies looted. USAID is helping the Ministry of Health restore basic services so healthy workers can return to work and healthy children can be educated. USAID will ensure services to vulnerable populations, including treatment of acute malnutrition and vaccinations. Over the next two years, USAID will assist the Ministry of Health to increase the professional skills of its health workers and administrators so that they can reduce the mortality rate of children under five years of age.

    Photo:
    Iraqi women and children wait to see a doctor at a primary health care center in the Al-Kargh district of Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo: Thomas Hartwell)
  • Over 30 million doses of vaccines have been procured by the Ministry of Health (MOH) since July, supported by USAID and UNICEF.
  • Three million Iraqi children under the age of 5 have been vaccinated. The full amount of vaccines supported by USAID will benefit 4.2 million children under the age of five and 700,000 pregnant women.
  • Continuing an immunization campaign with UNICEF and the Ministry of Health twice a week with the assistance of about 4,000 health workers and 124 supervisors.
  • Preparing to print 5,000 registry books for immunization recording under a grant to UNICEF. These registry books will be distributed to 1,000 health centers in Iraq.
  • Rehabilitated 20 delivery rooms serving more than 300,000 residents of Basrah.
  • Developing a facility building inventory database for the Ministry of Health on facilities' type, location, service distribution, cost information and building condition.
    • More than 60 primary health clinics are being renovated and over 600 re-equipped to provide life saving health services
  • Distributed high-protein supplementary food rations to more than 100,000 pregnant and nursing mothers and malnourished children under five.
  • Evaluated 18 national and regional public health laboratories for equipment needs.
  • Completed the rehabilitation of the National Polio Laboratory.
  • Ongoing training of more than 8,000 health workers to identify and treat acutely malnourished children.
  • Working with the Iraqi Ministry of Health to develop a Master Plan that will reduce child mortality and increase the level of preventative care available to the Iraqi people.
  • Conducted the first master training of medical professionals in public health, community medicine, and health care delivery. The master trainers will go on to train an additional 140 medical professionals; the exercise will ultimately branch out to 2,500 medical staff.
  • Organized nine working groups within the Ministry of Health to address development issues related to public health; health care delivery; health information systems; pharmaceuticals, medical supplies and equipment; health care finance; education and training; human resources; legislation and regulation; licensing and accreditation.
  • Working with the Ministry of Health to assist in the delegation of functions to other entities in the health sector such as NGOs, professional associations, community organizations, and businesses.
  • Community nutrition centers in Al Basrah Governorate have been rehabilitated. Supplementary feeding and screening at 62 primary healthcare clinics and community childcare units will benefit about 250 children and pregnant and lactating mothers each month.

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Last Updated on: January 05, 2004