WHO returns to Iraq amid improved security

U.N. headquarters in Baghdad after it was hit by a truck bomb Aug. 19, 2003

NEW YORK – In a further sign of improving security conditions in Iraq, the World Health Organization has restored a permanent international presence in the country after having fled in 2003.

The WHO's representative, Naeema Al-Gasseer, said the U.N. agency welcomes the opportunity to assist with Iraq's health goals, but security is always a concern.

"It is like a pendulum," she said. "We are still watching carefully for emergencies and humanitarian assistances, while at the same time focusing on assisting the government in policy development and investing in the recent security improvements."

The agency had had a presence in Iraq since 1960 amid coups, war with Iran, the first Persian Gulf war and the ensuing era of U.N. sanctions. But the WHO withdrew its staff from the country after the August 2003 attack on U.N. headquarters in Baghdad that killed 22 people and injured more than 100 others.

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The WHO was launched in 1948 at the formation of the U.N. with a mission to spread medical advances to impoverished and developing nations. It has responded to global epidemics such as smallpox, polio, malaria, SARS and AIDS.

Although the U.S. encourages Iraqis to use their own medical system, the American military has helped provide some care to Iraqis as al-Qaida targeted health facilities and doctors fled the country. The majority of patients treated at many major U.S. medical facilities across the country – such as the Air Force hospital at Camp Anaconda 50 miles north of Baghdad – have been Iraqis.

Many of the patients treated at the base have had problems not directly related to war violence. In the burn ward, for example, American doctors treated a young Iraqi boy who had been burned in a leaf fire. Leaves are typically used as fuel by Iraqis who don't have access to standard cooking oil.

Matt Sanchez has covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as an embedded reporter for WND. He resides in New York City.