WHO study finds NO rise in prevalence of birth defects in Iraq!
Justice Fallujah
Dear friends,
Today the World Health Organization (WHO) released a summary of the results from their long awaited study on the prevalence of birth defects in Iraq. This study was begun in June 2012 with the collaboration of Iraq's Ministry of Health, and was expected to publish its findings in November of 2012. The delayed release of this study caused many concerns about possible suppression of evidence due to pressure from its member states.
Some leaks early on offered us a glimpse into the results of the study, including the admission in a BBC documentary of an Iraqi Minestry of Health official that the study showed "with damning evidence" that there was a dramatic raise in birth defects since the American invasion.
But the summary just released by the WHO seems to be a retreat from these initial statements. In fact, the summary states that "[t]he rates for spontaneous abortion, stillbirths and congenital birth defects found in the study are consistent with or even lower than international estimates. The study provides no clear evidence to suggest an unusually high rate of congenital birth defects in Iraq." This is at odds with much of the previous research being done on the public health crisis in Iraq. And it flies in the face of the situation on the ground that Iraqi doctors see every day. We hope to have more information about these shocking results within the next few days.
