Addressing the health costs of the Iraq war: the role of health organisations

To the Editor: The human costs of the war in Iraq are mounting. The war has already claimed the lives of about 3000 Coalition service men and women1 and well over half a million Iraqi men, women and children.2 Reports by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq indicate that hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced, and that military operations in the country are limiting civilian access to health and education services, food, electricity and water supplies.3 Furthermore, the reports describe a generalised breakdown of law and order in the country, continued growth of militias and organised gangs, and abhorrent human rights violations such as torture in the form of electrical and chemical burns, injury inflicted to eyes and genitals, and wounds from power drills and nails.3