http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990520/V000996-052099-idx.html
U.N.: Iraq Stockpiles Medicines
By Leon Barkho
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, May 20, 1999; 11:51 a.m. EDT
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Some $300 million worth of medicines and health
care equipment are languishing in Iraqi warehouses, partly because the staff
lack the competence and motivation to distribute them, U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan reported Thursday.
Iraq's 22 million people, particularly its nearly 4 million children, badly need the
drugs, Annan said in a report released in Baghdad, the capital.
One out of every three children below the age of 5 is malnourished, owing to
shortages caused by the sweeping U.N. trade sanctions imposed on Iraq after
its invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Annan added that Iraqis suffering from chronic
diseases lack 30 percent to 60 percent of their drug requirements.
Iraq has frequently blamed the sanctions for the deaths of children, and has
pointed the finger at the United States and Britain as the strongest opponents
of any easing of the embargo.
Annan said the medicines and equipment in Iraqi warehouses amount to more
than half of the value of the medical supplies that have arrived in Iraq since the
start of an oil-for-food program in 1996. The program allows Baghdad to sell
limited quantities of oil on condition that the proceeds are used to buy food,
medicine and humanitarian goods for its people.
``The reasons for distribution bottlenecks are multiple and complex,'' Annan
said.
While his report stops short of blaming the government of President Saddam
Hussein, Annan says a key reason for the stockpile is a ``decline in
professional competence and motivation'' among Iraq's health personnel.
He suggested the United Nations set up a program of ``human development
and training for (Iraq's) health sector'' to accelerate the distribution.
Further, the government body running the warehouses lacks proper handling
equipment and transport to move the supplies, Annan said.
The United Nations is conducting intensive talks with the government in a bid
to find a solution to the distribution bottlenecks, the report said.
Annan submitted the report to the U.N. Security Council earlier this week.
The United States and Britain say that Iraq must prove it has destroyed its
long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction before the U.N.
embargo can be lifted.
(c) Copyright 1999 The Associated Press
