Last week MP for Highgate and Hampstead Glenda Jackson put down a question in Parliament asking international development secretary Hilary Benn what was being done to help the thousands of children maimed as a result of Allied bombing and the insurgency following Saddam Hussein’s overthrow and capture. Here is the question followed by Mr Benn’s reply.
• Glenda Jackson (Hampstead and Highgate): To ask the Secretary of State, Department for International Development, what assistance is being provided to the Iraqi Health Ministry for the provision of prosthetic limbs to Iraqi children in the conflict and subsequent insurgency.
Hilary Benn: Assistance to the Basra Prosthetics Centre has been provided by the Coalition Provisional Authority and by the UK military. They have funded the purchase, repair and delivery of prosthetic equipment. Repairs to the Centre’s facilities are currently under consideration by the UK military under their Quick Impact Projects (QIPs). The Basra Prosthetics Centre provides a number of services including assessment, treatment and provision of lower limb prosthetics to Iraqis throughout Southern Iraq. It treats accident victims, disabled people, amputees including mine victims, and patients with cerebral palsy, polio and rheumatic conditions. It also provides physiotherapy to post-operative patients.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works to support amputees in Iraq, although their activities have been constrained by the security situation. The ICRC is supporting five orthopaedic centres in central and southern Iraq with components, spare parts, local purchases and maintenance machinery. DFID has committed a total of £16.5 million to the ICRC since March 2003 in support of their activities in Iraq. Unicef is also involved in assisting Iraqi children in particularly vulnerable situations. This includes help for disabled children.
DFID’s broader support to the Iraqi health sector includes technical advice to the Ministry of Health, £5 million in assistance via the World Health Organisation and part of our £70 million contribution to the multi-donor trust funds managed in line with Iraqi priorities by the United Nations and the World Bank. Additionally, DFID’s Civil Society Fund for Iraq works to strengthen the capacity of Iraqi civil society organisations to better address the needs of poor and vulnerable groups, and includes support specifically focused on the needs of children.