The effect of economic sanctions on the mortality of Iraqi children prior to the 1991 Persian Gulf War

Abstract

Objectives. This study examined the effect of sanctions on mortality among Iraqi children. Methods. The effects of economic sanctions on health are not well known. Past studies on the effect of economic sanctions on mortality have suffered from unreliable data sources and the collinearity of sanctions with other negative economic events. We overcame these weaknesses by using individual child records from a retrospective survey of mothers conducted after the 1991 Persian Gulf War to examine the effect of sanctions on mortality among Iraqi children. Multivariate proportional hazards analysis was used to assess the effect of economic sanctions prior to war (from August through December 1990). Results. We found that after controlling for child and maternal characteristics, when economic sanctions were entered into the proportional hazards equation, the risk of dying increased dramatically. This increase was highly significant statistically. Conclusions. Innovative application of robust epidemiologic research tools can contribute to assessments of health and well-being even under the methodological and practical constraints of comprehensive economic sanctions, but more research is needed.