Liz quizzes United Nations on Iraqi healthcare

1.46.36pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 30th Apr 2003

Many Iraqis were disabled in the recent conflict.

At a special meeting in the European Parliament on Tuesday, West Midlands Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Liz Lynne asked a series of questions about the state of healthcare provision in Iraq to a representative of the United Nations.

Liz, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, asked a number of questions on the state of Iraqi medical facilities, the steps being made to avoid the spreading of disease, whether routine medical treatments are currently being carried out and about the facilities for disabled people, including those who have been disabled as a result of the conflict.

Liz commented:

"I did not get answers to all my questions, but I appreciate that lines of communication coming from Iraq are currently sporadic at best. I am deeply concerned that thousands of people are not getting the basic medical treatment they require."

"From what we have been told by the World Health Organisation representative who was also at the meeting, the basic healthcare infrastructure of the country would appear to still be in place but is largely inoperable. What they appear to sorely need is financial help to stop the hospitals from grinding to a halt. But we must remember that emergency aid must not simply help with the immediate fallout from the conflict, but needs to buttress ongoing healthcare needs as well – otherwise we are merely storing up greater problems in the long term."

"The international community must respond to the World Health Organisation's urgent request for aid. We cannot afford to allow the situation to deteriorate further."