A new editorial has just been published in ecancer highlighting the challenges of maintaining and sustaining public health in post-war Iraq.  The article describes the so-called “cancer crisis” in Iraq, focusing on paediatric cancer care in Baghdad.   The authors, Salma A Naji AL-Hadad, Mazin Faisal Farhan Al-Jadiry and Claudia Lefko,  powerfully depict the unique challenges faced by healthcare professionals in an environment where essential infrastructures such as housing, water purification and the electric grid as well as education and healthcare systems are in a parlous state.

The authors discuss possible solutions to the problems experienced by a country which has been battered by national and international conflicts for nearly forty years. They make an impassioned call for  international aid and global health organisations to work in collaboration with Iraqis to build on the foundations which are already in place. The editorial concludes that, to be effective, these initiatives need to be designed to address the complex needs of people living and working in such a limited-resource setting.

The editorial can be read for free here http://ecancer.org/journal/editorial/55-paediatric-cancer-care-in-a-limited-resource-setting-children-s-welfare-teaching-hospital-medical-city-baghdad.php.