Infant mortality doubled

In 1989 Iraq stood at mid-table in the ranking of under 5 mortality rates: 61st out of 121 countries. In 1996 it had reached number 39 out of 191 countries. The 1999 UNICEF report showed that infant mortality in under 5 years had doubled from 56 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1984/89 to 131 in 1994/99. Likewise, under 1 mortality had increased from 47 to 108 deaths per 1,000 for the same period. Both rates were higher the lower the level of the mother’s education and in the cities. From research carried out by FAO in Iraq in 1995 the number of under 5 years deaths as a direct result of the sanctions was set at 567,000, as reported in The Lancet. The estimations on by the UN specialised Agencies established an even more negative balance than that of the Iraqi Health Ministry, based on epidemiological studies rather than registered deaths.

These figures were well-known to the international community. Madeleine Albright, then US Secretary of State during Clinton’s second term in office, believed it to be «worth it» to achieve the objective of ousting Saddam Hussein. 

When the «oil for food» programme was introduced, infant mortality rates remained high: 250,000 under 5 years died between January 1997 and December 1999.