Number of Iraqi Children Suffering from Leukaemia Doubled

The number of Iraqi children suffering from leukaemia has doubled, reports the RIA Novosti correspondent. This information was printed by the Iraqi journal Al-Rafidein on Tuesday with reference to a report of the UN Program on Iraq.

The cancer incidence among women has also doubled. While in 1990 326 of every 100,000 Iraqi women suffered from breast cancer, in 2000 that figure had already gone up to 633.

The reason for this growth of cancer diseases in Iraq is the use by US troops during the 1991 Persian Gulf war of banned types of weapons, including depleted uranium, reports the journal.