IRAQ: People falling ill from contaminated water

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

BAGHDAD, 25 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - Numerous cases of people falling ill from contaminated water in districts across Baghdad have been reported by local doctors and the Ministry of Public Works this week.

“We have registered dozens of cases of people falling ill from dirty water in the past four days and we have found that the water used was from taps water inside the homes,” Dr Hassan Adnan, a paediatrician at Yarmouk Hospital, said.

Doctors have informed the ministries of Public Works and Health and asked for urgent assistance, especially in districts where there are large numbers of people falling ill.

Mua’ad Husseiny, a senior official in the Ministry of Public Works, said that the districts of Palestine Street, Baghdad, Bataween and Rissafa in the capital, were the most affected.

“We have asked the population not to drink the water without boiling it until we have a total confirmation of the source of the bacteria,” he said. “If this situation expands to other areas in the capital we can guarantee that it will get out of control.”

Adnan explained that the cases had been reported in many hospitals in the capital and residents have been alerted, but that the government needs to act fast.

“I have attended around 15 cases of people falling ill after drinking contaminated water in our hospital since yesterday. One of the laboratory tests has shown that the water is polluted,” said Dr Younis Abdel-Jalil of the Kindy Hospital in Baghdad.

The Ministry of Health has sent a special team to analyse the contaminated water and investigate the cause of contamination.
Meanwhile, the news has prompted some families to move from the district they live in, afraid that their children could be the next victims of the polluted water.

“I sent my two daughters to my mother’s house in another district of the capital before they become sick too. Sometimes you can see the water is a yellowish colour,” Lina Muhammad, a mother of two, said as she was moving to her parents’ home.
Others also reported dirty water.

“Two days ago I watched worms swimming in the bottom of a glass and I couldn’t believe that I had just given my children the same water and the result was one that one of them fell ill today,” said Sarmad Hassan, a father of three.

[ENDS]