UNICEF: Hundreds of Thousands of Iraqi Children Should Receive First Aid

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children need first aid. According to UNICEF, about 10 % of children aged 6-10 in the zones of hostilities suffer from mental impairment.

Many of them suffer from insomnia, asthma, and other diseases. The risk of epidemic that can affect about 100,000 children under five is mounting.

The current situation increases the hardship of the people of Iraq that ranks first in terms of infant mortality. The children are highly vulnerable in the face of the deteriorating conditions in view of the US-British military campaign. UNICEF experts are deeply concerned over the plight of 1.2 million population of Basra that is in great need of fresh water.

The initiative of Russian doctors and the Russian Red Cross who call on the international community to render first aid to wounded children, particularly of Basra and Baghdad, and to evacuate them if necessary is of great importance now.

Professor Leonid Roshal, expected in Switzerland on Wednesday, will discuss the issues with the International Red Cross Committee (IRCC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva.

These issues will also be on the agenda of the international conference on the prevention of a humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq and the adjoining countries, to open in Geneva on Wednesday. Experts from 30 countries, including Russia and representatives of UN Agencies and international humanitarian organisations will take part in it.

Conference Chairman Tony Frisch from Switzerland said that their task was to define what the Iraqi people needed now most of all and enhance humanitarian aid to Iraq that was attacked without the UN authorisation.