When he is just a year old, the pustules on Tiba’s face reveal the skin disease that afflicts him in his remote village in southern Iraq, where rising temperatures, water pollution and the lack of proper care threaten his health.
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Cholera, dermatological diseases such as leishmaniasis, chronic diarrhea, asthma attacks triggered by sandstorms: In Iraq, one of the five countries in the world most affected by certain impacts of climate change, increased health risks burden disadvantaged population groups.
“It’s a skin disease, the Baghdad boil,” Najeh Farhane tells AFP, pointing to a pustule under the mouth of her daughter Tiba, who is playing with her pacifier.
This parasitic disease, which has been endemic in Iraq for decades and is transmitted by the sand fly, is called cutaneous leishmaniasis.
In the hamlet of Al-Zouweiya, one of Mr Farhane’s sons fell ill with jaundice and also suffers from a “skin disease”.
“There is no medical center. We have nothing,” says this father of seven in Diwaniya province.
In mid-September, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized that “inadequate access to medical care in remote areas” was among the factors worsening leishmaniasis.
After 8,000 cases recorded in 2022, the UN agency noted the appearance of a “first case” in 2023 in a northern province that is “traditionally free of sand flies.”
A migration that “can only be explained by climate change,” admits AFP Wael Hatahit, acting WHO representative in Iraq.
“Historically, the sandfly did not exist in the north: the temperatures and environment were not favorable for them,” he says.
“temperature rise”
The UN official mentions “mainly an increase in temperature and a change in rainfall cycles.”
“The sandfly, like any other insect, thrives at a certain temperature and humidity,” he warns. If the climate changes and these conditions are met, there may be an increase in the insect population “and potentially more infections.”
In nine central and southern provinces “most affected by climate change,” the Iraqi Red Crescent has been running a campaign since June to make up for the lack of hospital services.
Around 150 volunteers, 25 doctors, ten ambulances and five mobile clinics are on the road to “provide free medical care” and “raise health awareness”.
In Diwaniya, near the ambulances parked in the village of Al-Ayyach, women dressed all in black wait to examine a child. Volunteers sort boxes of medication in one of the vehicles.
“The most common cases we have encountered are intestinal infections, dermatological diseases, skin rashes due to poor quality of available water and inflammation of the urinary tract,” says pharmacist Raghda Ihsane.
In a country that has suffered four years of drought in a row and whose infrastructure is in poor condition after decades of conflict and mismanagement, water pollution is worrying.
“A decrease in water flow means higher concentrations of wastewater and industrial pollutants in the water supply that Iraq’s water treatment infrastructure cannot adequately treat,” it said. AFP Mac Skelton, health anthropologist.
“Contaminated water”
“Contaminated water is associated with various pathologies such as cholera, gastrointestinal diseases, skin diseases and diarrhea,” adds the director of the IRIS Research Institute at the American University of Iraq. Sulaymaniyah.
He calls for “improving water treatment infrastructure” and “developing health systems.”
As quoted by the state-run daily al-Sabbah, an Environment Ministry official admitted in mid-September that “the sewage pipes in Baghdad discharged their wastewater directly into the Tigris.”
Cholera is rampant in the north, especially in Souleimaniyeh. As of September 12, the second largest city in autonomous Kurdistan recorded 152 confirmed cases, according to the WHO.
“The main cause is the use of unsafe water,” said Sabah Hourami, director of Suleimaniyah’s health authorities.
Controls were tightened in restaurants, tank trucks and mosques. Public water is tested to ensure it contains sufficient chlorine, he says.
“We no longer do preventive examinations: anyone who suffers from diarrhea and vomiting is automatically treated as a case of cholera,” explains the manager.
Hospitals admit several dozen patients with these symptoms every day.