Full of care From Kate Bulbulian Sir: I read with
interest Mark Steyn's arti cle ('Others can do the caring', 21 June). He said he was unable to 'find Will Day's Iraq'. This might not be surprising, since he travelled to western and northern Iraq, while Care International operates in the south and centre of the country.
He may also care to note the following: He criticised us for recycling a January statistic that 500,000 tonnes of sewage were discharged into Iraq's rivers daily. A recent Usaid/Dart report estimates that two million tonnes of raw sewage daily is now the accepted figure. Furthermore, it is high summer in Iraq and water levels have dropped, making it even harder for rivers to cope with the additional effluent.
Mr Steyn may not have been harmed by the water he drank, but he is not malnourished. If he were, he would be more vulnerable to water-borne disease. Malnutrition levels among Iraqi under-five-yearolds are between 35 and 50 per cent.
Hospitals are not at capacity, because there is little point in sick and injured people staying if there are no medicines or supplies to treat them.
May we suggest that Mr Steyn return to Iraq and, this time, to Baghdad and the governorates in which Care works? Our staff would be very happy to show him the Iraq that Will Day described.
Kate Bulbulian
Care International UK, London SEI
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