Epidemic of Birth Defects in Fallujah, Iraq

"Research links rise in Falluja birth defects and cancers to US assault"

• Defects in newborns 11 times higher than normal

• 'War contaminants' from 2004 attack could be cause


by Martin Chulov
THE GUARDIAN (U.K.)

December 30, 2010

The full article is on the Web at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/30/faulluja-birth-defects-iraq

Brief excerpts from the article--


"A study examining the causes of a dramatic spike in birth defects in the Iraqi city of Falluja has for the first time concluded that genetic damage could have been caused by weaponry used in US assaults that took place six years ago.

"The research, which will be published next week, confirms earlier estimates revealed by the Guardian of a major, unexplained rise in cancers and chronic neural-tube, cardiac and skeletal defects in newborns. The authors found that malformations are close to 11 times higher than normal rates, and rose to unprecedented levels in the first half of this year – a period that had not been surveyed in earlier reports.

The findings, which will be published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, come prior to a much-anticipated World Health Organisation study of Falluja's genetic health. They follow two alarming earlier studies, one of which found a distortion in the sex ratio of newborns since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 – a 15% drop in births of boys.

"We suspect that the population is chronically exposed to an environmental agent," said one of the report's authors, environmental toxicologist Mozhgan Savabieasfahani. "We don't know what that environmental factor is, but we are doing more tests to find out...."


"...City's spike in deformity rates

"Birth-defect rates in Falluja have become increasingly alarming over the past two years. In the first half of 2010, the number of monthly cases of serious abnormalities rose to unprecedented levels. In Falluja general hospital, 15% of the 547 babies born in May had a chronic deformity, such as a neural tune defect – which affects the brain and lower limbs – cardiac, or skeletal abnormalities, or cancers.

"No other city in Iraq has anywhere near the same levels of reported abnormalities. Falluja sees at least 11 times as many major defects in newborns than world averages, the research has shown..."

"... In May, 15% of the 547 babies born had serious birth defects. In the same period, 11% of babies were born at less than 30 weeks and 14% of foetuses spontaneously aborted. "




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Below:

12 photos of babies born in 2010 in Fallujah General Hospital. (The dates on some photos notwithstanding, they are all from 2010).

More independent biomedical investigation of Iraqi war victims is needed.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is unlikely to conduct any unbiased study: See the British Medical Journal in November 2006 (11; 333(7576): 990), in an article entitled "WHO suppressed evidence on effects of depleted uranium, expert says", on the internet at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1635642/

Those scientists or foundations who wish to enable further research into the Fallujah epideomic of birth defects may contact bahar@umich.edu