Maternal mortality increased by 2.5

General health problems and the deterioration of the public healthcare system in Iraq had a heavy impact on Iraqi women, particularly as far as pregnancy and delivery were concerned. According to data from UNICEF, between 1989 and 1999 the rate of deaths during delivery rose from 117 to 294 mothers per 100,000 live births, i.e., a 2.5-fold increase, making it the main cause of death for Iraqi women aged between 19 and 45. This rise in maternal deaths was due to malnutrition, chronic anaemia, an increase of deliveries with complications, and limited material resources for adequate obstetric treatment, from medicine, surgical material, sutures and anaesthesia.

Supplies of iron tablets (to combat iron-deficiency anaemia) and folic acid (a lack of which produces death and malformations in the foetus) were well below levels of demand: only a quarter of pregnant women received them. The percentage of women vaccinated against tetanus during pregnancy fell to 70%.

Likewise, the increase in cases of tuberculosis (a highly sensitive indicator of general living conditions, not just healthcare) particularly affected women. According to the WHO, cases of tuberculosis increased 5-fold between 1992 —two years after the introduction of sanctions— and 1996. In 1992 the incidence of tuberculosis in women was half that in men. In 1996 it was approximately the same, so while cases of the disease in men tripled in this period, it did so almost 8-fold in women. In 1999, cases of tuberculosis for both sexes had increased to levels 30 years earlier.