the lights are going out all over iraq, page-4

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Doctors under threat in Iraq

AM - Monday, 4 July , 2005 08:17:38
Reporter: Mark Willacy

TONY EASTLEY: In a country of car bombs, suicide attackers, and heavily armed coalition soldiers, Iraq's doctors have been placed under more strain than ever before.

But the doctors themselves have become a target.

Iraq's Medical Association says about 300 doctors have been kidnapped and held for ransom since the end of the war, and more than 30 have been murdered.

Thousands have now fled Iraq after being threatened by insurgents and criminal gangs.

The interviews for this report were gathered by the ABC's Baghdad Bureau, and the story compiled by our Middle East Correspondent, Mark Willacy.

(sound of boy crying)

MARK WILLACY: In Baghdad’s Yarmouk Hospital, a little boy cries out in pain.

These cramped wards and corridors are full of the victims of Iraq’s bloody conflict.

But now, even those treating the sick and wounded are becoming targets of the insurgents and the criminal gangs.

DR MAHMOUD: On the 8th of January 2005, it was a surprise to me that I received a direct telephone call warning me that I should leave Iraq within 72 hours.

MARK WILLACY: This thoracic and vascular surgeon, who we’ll call "Dr Mahmoud", was told if he didn't leave Iraq he'd be killed.

Fearing for his life, he drove to neighbouring Jordan, returning to Baghdad after three months away.

Dr Akif al-Alousi is a leading Baghdad pathologist and a senior member of the Iraqi Medical Association.

AKIF AL-ALOUSI: The Iraqi Medical Association estimates there are around 25 to 50 doctors assassinated or killed in this timeframe.

MARK WILLACY: Dr Alousi says 300 doctors have been kidnapped since the rise of the insurgency, while another 3,000 have fled Iraq because of the threats on their lives.

AKIF AL-ALOUSI: The problem should be looked upon that those doctors who are leaving are specialists with a lot of experience. They're usually university professors, they're the people who train the junior doctors for their future life, so the loss is compounded by their expertise and by their position as producers of doctors.

MARK WILLACY: As well as treating the seemingly endless number of victims of the insurgency, Iraq’s doctors must cope with continuing power failures and water shortages.

For medical specialists like "Dr Mahmoud", the threat of kidnapping or death makes working in Iraq extremely dangerous.

DR MAHMOUD: I am worried when I get out of my house at the morning. So it is something… an anxiety for you. It's a psychological headache. So I used to change my departure time from my house. Sometime I use a taxi. They are organised, and they can kidnap or kill or threaten any person they want.

MARK WILLACY: Responding to the threats, Iraq’s Interior Ministry has offered the country’s doctors guns and bodyguards.

But many argue that this will only draw more attention to them.

Dr Akif al-Alousi from the Iraqi Medical Association says two very different groups are behind the kidnappings and killings.

AKIF AL-ALOUSI: All the actual evidence on the ground that the kidnappings is a criminal act done by common gangs because of the lawlessness in Iraq. The assassination is a difficult… is a different problem. Some of them are politically motivated, but in general there is a lot of violence.

MARK WILLACY: Many patients, like thyroiditis sufferer Saleem Mahdi, can no longer get specialist treatment because their doctors has fled.

(sound of Saleem Mahdi speaking)

"We went to my doctor’s clinic and were told he’d gone abroad," says Saleem.

"He confirmed by phone that he left because he was threatened," he says.

(sound of sirens)

Iraq once had the best-trained doctors and highest standard of medical care in the Middle East. But now those treating the victims of criminal lawlessness and insurgents have become prime targets of both.

TONY EASTLEY: Middle East Correspondent Mark Willacy reporting.