1 in 8 Iraqis dies before fifth birthday

May 23, 2007
1 in 8 Iraqis dies before fifth birthday

(05-23) 04:00 PDT Baghdad -- Hanna Yousef Tamer watches hopelessly as her
year-old daughter, Mahdi, writhes on pink sheets in a crowded ward of the Ibn
Al-Baladi Pediatric Hospital in the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City. The
feeble child cries and looks around the bustling room through hollowed
eyes.

Her body is wasted from malnutrition and dehydration. But with the hospital
lacking basic medication and intravenous fluids, doctors and nurses can't do
much to help Mahdi. And while precious drugs are available in pharmacies, the
little girl's family can't afford them. Tamer, 27, lost another daughter,
Roqia, in 2005 when the 2-year-old died of the same disorders.

Iraq Child Mortality Rate Soars

May 8, 2007
Iraq Child Mortality Rate Soars

(AP) The chance that an Iraqi child will live beyond age 5 has plummeted faster than anywhere else in the world since 1990, according to a report released Tuesday, which placed the country last in its child survival rankings.

One in eight Iraqi children died of disease or violence before reaching their fifth birthday in 2005, according to the report by Save the Children, which said Iraq ranked last because it had made the least progress toward improving child survival rates.

Iraq's mortality rate has soared by 150 percent since 1990. Even before the latest war, Iraq was plagued by electricity shortages, a lack of clean water and too few hospitals.