Senator Allison asked the Minister representing the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on 17 June 2004:

(1) Does the Government accept the accuracy of this data.

(2) What efforts has the Government made to establish the mortality rates of Iraqi civilians.

(3) What efforts has the Government made to establish the cause of these mortality rates.

(4) Does the Government, as a member of the coalition, accept any responsibility for this mortality rate since the attack on Iraq.

(5) As a member of the occupying coalition in Iraq, what measures is the Government taking to improve health conditions in Iraq, particularly in relation to infants.

Senator Hill (Minister for Defence) —The following answer has been provided by the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the honourable senator's question:

(1) Official post-conflict data on mortality rates in Iraq is not available. The estimates quoted are based on pre-conflict data compiled before the end of the Ba'athist regime. The Iraqi Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation's Central Statistics Office has not issued any post-conflict statistics and a new census is only planned for much later in the year.

The figures on infant mortality suggested by Dr Gideon Polya refer to United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) data compiled before 2002. Dr Polya's figures for 2002-2004 are only forward estimates suggested by the UN Populations Division. Furthermore, The same UN data predicts that child and infant mortality will in fact fall dramatically during and following the years of the coalition presence and the removal of Saddam.

(2) The Government has not been directly involved in establishing mortality rates but has provided financial support to expert UN agencies such as UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO) that have undertaken studies to determine mortality rates and causes.

(3) UNICEF reports suggest that the basic causes of high infant/under-five child mortality rates are wide-ranging. They include: civil strife, sanctions, three major conflicts, inadequate resource distribution, poor institutional capacity and inadequate human resources. These problems can be directly attributed to the Ba'athist regime, eg. Saddam Hussein's regime allocated only $US16 million to health care in 2002, 60 times less than that of the 2004 Iraqi national budget of $US950 million allocated to the Ministry of Health.

UNICEF reports that the immediate causes of infant/under-five mortality are disease and malnutrition. The standard of public health services, utilities and infrastructure, eg. in water supply and sanitation, is important in helping address these causes. The Australian government has made a substantial contribution to the water and sanitation sector in Iraq through the deployment of technical experts, helping establish the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works, and funding to UN agencies and NGOs for delivery of essential services in water supply and sanitation.

(4) No.

(5) The 2004 Iraqi Budget allocated $US950 million to the Ministry of Health, compared with an allocation of only $US16 million in 2002 under the Saddam regime. The 2004 allocation is the second largest to any sector under the national budget. Australia was instrumental in assisting the formulation of the 2003 and 2004 budgets in consultation with the Iraqi Governing Council and Interim Ministers, through our direct contribution of technical expertise to the CPA's Office of Budget and Management.

Australia has contributed over $55 million in humanitarian aid to Iraq since 2003, much of this through UN agencies and NGOs addressing the causes of infant/child mortality in Iraq:

CARE Australia distributed emergency medical equipment to 10 hospitals and delivered 480,000 packets of high-energy biscuits to patients in children and maternity hospitals, as well as hygiene equipment for 30 hospitals in 8 governorates.

Save the Children Australia assisted in more effective management of infectious diseases in eight paediatric and general hospitals, and provided infection control equipment and medical supplies.

World Vision Australia enabled restoration of water and sanitation systems in 74 schools in northern Iraq, benefiting more than 48,000 children and 2,000 teachers who now have access to clean water and sanitary toilets.

UNICEF received more Australian Government funds than any other agency, in support of its efforts in combating child and infant disease and mortality, water, sanitation, health and nutrition. Our funds contributed to:

- Daily provision of clean water to ½ million people in major cities

- Rehabilitation of water and sewerage facilities in 10 governorates

- Provision of vaccines benefiting 4.2 million children under 5 years old and 700,000 pregnant women

- Training for 140 physicians and 203 health workers on preventive health services, immunisation and health management

- Training 540 health workers on specialising in children's issues such as malnutrition

- The distribution of high protein biscuits to more than 120,000 pregnant/lactating mothers and malnourished children under 5 years old

- The rehabilitation of 50 health care centres.