Reality of the health services' situation in Baghdad

I didn't know that health services are deteriorated to such level until I became a patient! I knew for a fact that health services are really bad in Baghdad and Iraq in general but I never imagined it was in such a miserable condition.

Two days ago and out of the sudden, I felt a tooth ache, it was dull continuous pain with sensitivity to vertical percussion and since I'm a dentist I knew exactly what I have; chronic pulpitis (infection of the pulp) in case the tooth is not endodonticaly treated (root canal filling) but since my tooth is treated then it's a periodontal abscess 

(abscess at the top of the root)…I went to take an x-ray at the clinic where my wife's work (because we don't have x-ray) and I knew I just needed a course of a strong anti-biotic with scaling and the problem might resolve it self, if it doesn't then I'll need re-treatment.

I took the x-ray and my wife did the scaling (professional cleaning) for me and as she was scaling she was looking for any cavities that I might have because it has been a long period since I checked my teeth and unfortunately, she found 3 teeth that needs filling (initial caries) I went to the operative department (filling department) and I found out that they have only one working chair with tens of patients waiting, they don't have water in their turbine (drill) and treatment like this will be more destructive than constructive, they don't have light cure filling (white filling) in fact they do but it has expired in Jan. 2007!!! So I decided to go to another clinic that I know a dentist who works in it and it was the same condition, no light cure and no water!! I went to another one and they had no electricity, I went to another and they have no anesthesia and no light cure, I went to another and they had no working chair, I also went to another which is considered the best governmental clinic in Baghdad and they had everything except for one thing, they have only one color for the light cure fillings which is the dark one! If I did it with this color I'll look pretty ugly so of course I didn't do it because my tooth is a lateral incisor (front tooth).

OK, you might think to your self why don't you go to private clinics…well, of course I thought about that but the problem is majority of the good dentists that I know have left Iraq either because they were threatened or they fear that they will be, if they weren't killed…I knew some good ones left but they have closed their clinics…one of them is opening till now but he doesn't accept to take money from me and I really don't like to do that because I know materials cost him in addition to that his clinic is really full so he will lose a patient (who pays) because of me since he must close at a certain time ….I might jump to a dentist that I don't know but the problem is in knowledge, sometimes when a man doesn't know it's better for him…I know very well the consequences of a simple procedural error or the use of a not very good materials (which are cheaper) and many dentists use it to increase their profit since they can't raise their fees otherwise no one will go to them…so what should I do? I really don't know…wait, I just got a thought now and I think I'll do it! I think I'll buy the light cure materials and all what I need and go to one of the clinics that don't have materials…OK, I'll do that but what about the rest of the people, what will they do? I'm a dentist and my wife is a dentist and I'm in such a confusion what about the normal people? The ones who can afford a private clinic will go to a clinic but what about the ones who can't? the dental treatment is somehow expensive for some people, it's much cheaper than what you pay; in fact it can't be compared but it's still expensive for many people here…the filling have a range of 22$, the extraction have a range of 15$ and the scaling have a range of 20$....I really just want to know one thing, where does the money go? Where does the billions of the health ministry goes?

 

 

Now to another disaster in the health services, it's the Gynecologists (physicians specialized in women's stuff), pregnancy follow-up and delivery…since my wife is pregnant and her due date is getting closer. Unfortunately, I'm able to feel the pain of the Iraqis who needs this kind of health services. You know what they say; you can't really feel the pain unless you're in it…I must say that governmental pregnancy follow-up is good 

depending on what they have because they don't need materials, they just need doctors and the doctors are really doing their best; immunization, monthly blood tests and almost free supplements but they don't have ultra-sound but it's not a problem since there are many private clinics in which one can do it, BTW, in all Iraq there is no 3D ultrasound, the most modern device we have here is from the 90's generation, In all Iraq we don't have the tests for the early detection of Trisomy syndrome (Mongolism)  or any other birth defects, there is no good and famous gynecologist left in Iraq, only two left; one of them comes for a week and leave for months…I went to the only one left before we knew my wife is pregnant, we just suspected that she is, we though that she had some problem because her cycle didn't come at time or maybe she is pregnant, she gave us an injection that she said will be good for the fetus if she is pregnant and will prevent miscarriage and if she isn't pregnant she will have her cycle! We went home and I was just going to inject her when I though to myself "I haven't read the leaflet of the injection?" I always do before taking anything…so I read it and I cried "that murderer"; all the leaflet is filled with precautions of giving this shot if there is any suspension of pregnancy because it will kill the fetus….well, that's the only good Gynecologist left, she was really old so she might be having Alzheimer or something…thank god, I read the leaflet and didn't kill my baby with my own hands.

So till now we don't have a Gynecologist that we go to regularly, I depend on books and asking my father about things, and sometimes we go to Gynecologist that we hear is good but we don't have a physician who will deliver my wife.

Now to the worst part of it…the delivery! Since me and my wife want natural delivery then we must think of the epidural shot; well, there isn’t in majority of baghdad's hospitals, some have it but the doctors aren't well trained on it and many cases of permanent paralysis were reported, so we will have to skip it…we have this stupid policy in our hospitals (whether private or governmental) that no one is allowed to be with the woman who is delivery! Having a delivery is the most hard time in the women's life and they don't allow her husband (even if he was a doctor) or her mother to be with the delivering woman! This is absolute non-sense, it doesn't matter how much you pay even if you booked a whole floor you will not be allowed to be with your wife! And as if that isn't enough, do you know who delivers the mother? It's not the doctor as you probably guessed, the nurse will deliver the mother in most hospitals if it was natural delivery and if the mother took a long delivery time then they will do a c-section (caesarian) without thinking twice, like it's a routine procedure! Let alone the fact that if the mother had to deliver at night, how difficult it will be to take her to the hospital…that's about the difficulties I have in the health services, what about the people who aren't in the medical field….those were the difficulties in two branches of medicine and you can imagine what's the case with the rest of them…I wish there is a person to blame or specific side to throw the blame on but unfortunately there are countless sides and people to throw the blame on…it's all about corruption, decades of falling behind the medical developments, physicians and doctors with little medical ethics who will have high ethics when they leave Iraq!, doctors who are really bad in their job but holds important positions because they are from a specific political party or they know "people", sectarian violence, gangs working under the mask of religion, people with agenda of brain-killing Iraq….and the list goes on.

I know I shouldn't be asking for such services because I'm a third world citizen, but what can I do? As I said, knowledge is harmful sometimes, and knowledge is for sure harmful in Iraq.