Nerve Agents Could be to Blame for Tripling of Child Leukaemia in Basra

The Times – Rates of leukaemia in children around the Basra area of Southern Iraq have almost tripled in the last 15 years according to calculations by public health experts. Research published in the American Journal of Public Health documents 698 cases of leukaemia among children under the age of 15 in the period to 2007. There was a peak of 211 cases in 2006. Rates increased from three to almost 8.5 cases of the disease per 100,000 children over the time period. This is more than double the rate of leukaemia in the European Union. Read Article

Tags: children & maternity, disease & medicine, Iraq, Middle East, pollution & toxins, weapons