Working the Iraqi health system
The Washington Post ran a recent article on the problems with US plans to construct 142 new primary care clinics across Iraq. The endless chain of subcontracting has left almost all of these clinics unfinished. Often a clinic is declared "reconstructed" after a quick paint job, and a couple of desks and stethoscopes are provided to the clinic. I have witnessed the construction of one such clinic over the last two years. It lies on the southern Baghdad-Basra highway in Madain province. Once completed it was to serve the inhabitants of a dozen surrounding villages. The still unfinished building is now a barracks for interior ministry commandos. I've heard that numerous requests from the health
ministry to abandon the site were all turned down or ignored.
