Friday 26 September 2003

Press Briefing Notes
Friday 26 September 2003
Spokesperson: Christopher Lom

1. IRAQ - IOM Medevacs Five Children to Germany
2. CROATIA - High School Counter Trafficking Initiative

IRAQ - IOM Medevacs Five Children to Germany - This week IOM coordinated the evacuation of a further five children from Baghdad to Germany for medical treatment unavailable in post conflict Iraq.

The evacuation, which was sponsored by the Association of Iraqi Doctors in Germany, was coordinated by IOM's Medical Evacuation and Health Recontruction Programme in Iraq (MEHRPI).

In Germany, the children, aged between 10 and 16, will receive treatment including bone grafts, open heart surgery, corrective orthopedia, skins grafts and a bone marrow transplant.

MEHRPI, which is a dual initiative combining selective medical evacuations with help to re-build Iraq's dilapidated specialist health care system, matches patients who cannot be treated inside Iraq with free hospital beds and treatment offered by foreign donor countries.

To date 618 cases have been referred to MEHRPI by hospitals throughout Iraq. Some 261 have been identified as eligible for evacuation by the programme's international medical selection team. Of 84 patients evacuated to 9 countries since late May, 19 have already returned to Iraq, following successful treatment.

A further three children of 11 evacuated to Austria in May are scheduled to return home to Basra with IOM on Saturday. Five more returned last month and three others are still undergoing treatment.

Under MEHRPI, IOM identifies host hospitals, arranges travel documentation and transport for the patient and at least one family member, monitors treatment, provides feedback to families and, when the treatment is complete, provides transport back to Iraq.

The programme, which is funded by Kuwait and the EU, this week also completed reconstruction work on the looted and partially destroyed burns unit of Basra hospital. The unit is scheduled to be re-equipped by other donors during the coming weeks.

CROATIA - High School Counter Trafficking Initiative - IOM Zagreb has launched a project to introduce preventive education on human trafficking into Croatian high schools.

The USAID-funded project will focus on producing a module designed to educate both teachers and students on the dangers posed by human traffickers in the Balkan republic and neighbouring countries.

IOM hopes that the module, which will be developed in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Croatian NGOs, will eventually be included in the national high school curriculum.

Last week IOM also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Croatian Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare to work together in maintaining Croatia's first national shelter and reception centers for victims of trafficking; providing psychosocial, medical and legal assistance; and facilitating safe and organised voluntary return of victims to their homes.

In March 2003 IOM and the Croatian authorities launched the country's first national public awareness campaign to combat human trafficking.