IRAQ: Shortage of drugs for epileptic children

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

BAGHDAD, 3 May 2005 (IRIN) - Iraqi doctors have reported a shortage of medicine for children suffering from epilepsy because of the high cost of purchasing the drugs needed to treat the condition.

Epilepsy occurs when there are intermittent seizures of the brain, which if not controlled by medication, can worsen and even lead to death. The condition is common among children.

Epilepsy also affects adults but medicine for their treatment is more widely available in Iraq and at a lower price.

Dr Muhammad Toufick told IRIN in Baghdad that the lack of medicine is affecting most of his patients and that there have been four cases since March where children have died because they have not received vital medication.

For about 80 percent of those diagnosed with epilepsy, seizures can be controlled with modern medicines or by using surgical techniques.

Some medicines administered by injection, such as Nandrolone, are only found in a limited number of pharmacies in Iraq at a cost of US $70 and the dosage is only sufficient to treat the patient for less than 20 days.

Another drug called Nikan, which is effective for a month, costs around $50. In a country where the economy is still reeling from war and years of sanctions, the price is too high for most Iraqis. Most pharmacies don’t even stock such expensive drugs because of the low demand.

During Saddam Hussein’s regime, many medicines were provided under the now defunct Oil-for-Food Programme (OFFP).

“The Iraqi government should face reality and not behave as if there are sanctions in the country now. They should save the lives of these innocent children as soon as possible before we lose more lives,” Toufick added.

According to government statistics, there are around 4,500 children suffering from epilepsy in the country.

Staff from international NGOs in Iraq told IRIN that because of the high cost of medicines, they, too, are having difficulty supplying them and said that they had already alerted other international health organisations to the situation.

Kadham Nihad, a three-year-old child, suffers from 20 epileptic convulsions a day on average and his parents do not have the money to buy the drugs he needs.

“I have been enduring bitter days trying to help my son. I’m a barber with an the income of $100 per month and the money is spent on rent, food and clothes so I barely have enough for these expensive medicines,” Nihad Fadhel, Kadham’s father, told IRIN in despair.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) said Kimadia, the state run main supplier of medicine in the country, is trying to ensure that basic drugs are available at all paediatric hospitals in the country but acknowledged that much more is needed.

“Since the fall of the last regime these drugs have been in shortage and those who can afford them are buying them from the black market. But we are trying to ensure that essential drugs are available,” a senior official at the MoH, Linda Ahmed, told IRIN.

The World Health Organization (WHO) in Iraq, told IRIN that it is working in partnership with the government on the issue to try and to cover the needs of epileptic children.

“I’ve been trying to keep my son alive but I cannot afford his treatment and I’m afraid that I may lose him at any day now due to the bad health system in the country,” Fadhel added.

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