By NNN-KUNA
Geneva : The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced that the UN health sector partners have appealed for USD 84.8 million to assist an estimated 2.2 million Iraqis who have fled the ongoing violence and instability in Iraq to neighboring countries.
According to WHO spokesperson Fadela Chaib Tuesday, the funds are required to support host governments in meeting the health and nutrition needs of the displaced populations until the end of next year.
Syria and Jordan host respectively 1.5 million and 750,000 Iraqis. In Syria alone, hundreds of Iraqi amputees need prostheses and thousands of cancer patients and trauma victims need specialised treatment.
Access to hospital care is limited. Gaps have arisen in the national health information and disease surveillance systems, which increase the risk of vaccine preventable diseases.
The deteriorating purchasing power of Iraqis may also lead to rising malnutrition rates.
The displaced Iraqi population also needs reproductive and child health services.