The Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) has organized a massive health awareness campaign in Babylon governorate in cooperation with the prime minister’s office in order to raise awareness of the residents of rural and remote areas about the dangers of communicable diseases due to the drought crisis all over Babylon .

The Babylon branch media coordinator Haitham Ahmed said: “The rise in temperatures and drought has led to an increase in the spread of epidemic diseases and the expansion of some areas that provide an incubating environment for the transmission of cholera, viruses, such as the hemorrhagic fever virus, are now more easily transmitted.”

Mr Haitham has explained that the above-mentioned campaign aims to reduce the risks of communicable diseases due to climate change, by distributing posters, illustrations, and pasting publications prepared for this purpose, during which it included markets and public places in the targeted areas, adding to conducting meetings and awareness and guidance sessions with members of the local community.

Haitham has also said that in order to accomplish the desired results and include the widest area populated by the target groups in the above- mentioned campaign, the campaign’s implementation was preceded by a plan and discussing the mechanism for its implementation.

Climate change constitutes the greatest threat to health facing humans, it is also threatens to undermine the global progress achieved in the areas of development, health, and poverty reduction, it also threatens to further expand health inequalities among population groups, and it has a negative impact on achieving universal health coverage in various ways, despite the challenges, there are effective measures that can save the lives of thousands of residents.

The director of Babylon branch has added: “The IRCS has also deployed its mobile medical clinics, which are supported by the International Federation, and equipped with specialized medical staff for the purpose of providing medical and therapeutic care, including diagnosing medical conditions for needy families who live in those areas and who are unable to visit medical centers due to distance and also financial need, this work was done in cooperation with Babylon health department”.

Babylon branch director has emphasised that utilising the launch of this campaign to carry out a field survey to learn about the actual circumstance in remote areas and determining the needs of families residing there in order to provide the necessary assistance to them in the future in collaboration with partners from humanitarian organisations.