A local event of interest (at least to Canadians!).

Mary Anne


This morning's news from the Canadian Globe and Mail newspaper:
> =====================================================
>
> http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070411.IRAQI11/
> TPStory/?query=lafta
>
> WAR IN IRAQ
> Canada offers forum for lecturer barred from U.S.
>
> JONATHAN WOODWARD
>
> Special to The Globe and Mail
>
> VANCOUVER -- A highly regarded Iraqi epidemiologist who wants to
> tell Americans about an alarming rise in cancer levels among Iraqi
> children will come to Canada instead because he couldn't get a visa
> to the United States.
>
> Unable to travel to the University of Washington, Riyadh Lafta --
> best known for a controversial study that estimated Iraq's body
> count in the U.S.-led war in Iraq at more than half a million --
> will arrive at Simon Fraser University in B.C. this month to give a
> lecture and meet with research associates.
>
> "The University of Washington wanted him, but the U.S. denied his
> entry," said his colleague at SFU, Tim Takaro. "They need to be
> able to collaborate, even if his results are unpopular with the
> Americans. Now he's at SFU, and the best they're going to get is a
> video feed."
>
> Once in Canada, Dr. Lafta will present estimates that paint a
> damning portrait of the war's ravages on children: that birth
> defects are on the rise since the war began, and that the number of
> children dying from cancers such as leukemia has risen tenfold.
>
> Dr. Lafta had tried for six months to get a visa into Seattle to
> speak in Washington, and was ignored a half-dozen times, Dr. Takaro
> said.
>
> The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services couldn't be reached
> for comment. But a spokesman for Seattle Democratic Congressman Jim
> McDermott said he couldn't understand the decision. "Jim's
> certainly more than a little unhappy about it. We don't know
> whether this was a snafu or more than that," Mike DeCesare said.
> "Certainly with the doctor not able to be on the campus, and engage
> directly with people, you've got to believe that's a net loss for
> everybody."
>
> Dr. Lafta was born in Baghdad in 1960, was trained as a physician
> at Baghdad University College and then worked for 14 years for the
> Ministry of Health under Saddam Hussein. He became the head of the
> communicable disease department and then the primary-care
> department of Diyala province in northern Iraq.
>
> Dr. Lafta, who is still in Iraq, couldn't be reached by e-mail
> yesterday. But Dr. Takaro shared a message from his personal
> communication. "The main point is that people outside Iraq do not
> realize the real disaster we are suffering," Dr. Lafta writes.
> "Only the Iraqi people know that, simply because the foreigners are
> listening to the news while we are living the events on the ground."
>
>
>
>
>

>
>
> NEWS RELEASE PROPOSED COPY
>
> For Immediate Release
>
> Contact information:
>
> Amy Hagopian, PhD, UW School of Public Health
> hagopian@...
> 206-616-4989 (office) or 206-551-5313 (cell) or Ian Maki
> 206-543-6020
>
> …and Tim Takaro, MD, MPH, Simon Fraser Faculty of Health Sciences
> ttakaro@...
> 604-268-7186
>
> …and Simon Fraser University Public Affairs Media Relations:
> Carol Thorbes 604.291.3035, cthorbes@... or Fiona Burrows,
> 604.291.3210, fiona@...
>
>
> Iraqi casualty count researcher to speak
>
> An Iraqi medical school professor is coming to North America to
> collaborate with University of Washington colleagues on a research
> project to document elevated levels of pediatric cancers in Basra,
> Iraq. The project was conceived as part of a sister university
> relationship developed after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. The
> research project is supported by a grant from the Puget Sound
> Partners, a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation initiative.
>
> Dr. Riyadh Lafta, who teaches medicine at Baghdad’s Al-
> Mustansiriya University College of Medicine, co-authored the
> October 2006 Lancet article that estimated more than 650,000 Iraqis
> have died as a result of the the American-led invasion in 2003.
>
> Lafta will speak at a public gathering in Vancouver, BC, on Friday,
> April 20, at 7 pm. He will be a guest of Simon Fraser University,
> largely because the U.S. State Department would not issue Lafta a
> visa to come to the United States.
>
> “We wish Dr. Lafta was coming to Seattle,” said Amy Hagopian,
> UW faculty member in the School of Public Health. “But since that
> is not possible, we are very grateful to our colleagues at Simon
> Fraser for their gracious hospitality in hosting Dr. Lafta.” Tim
> Takaro, a public health physician teaching at Simon Fraser
> University, is one of the research collaborators on the childhood
> cancer study.
>
> “We look forward to publishing the findings of our research
> project, as we believe these elevated cancer rates among children
> need to be more clearly understood,” Hagopian said.
>
> Dr. Lafta lives in Baghdad with his wife and four sons. He worked
> 14 years for the Iraqi Ministry of Health, where he conducted
> immunization campaigns in rural areas for UNICEF during the time of
> US-imposed sanctions. UNICEF has estimated (8/99) that those
> sanctions resulted in an additional 500,000 child deaths in Iraq
> during the 1990s.
>
> Dr. Lafta will speak at the Simon Fraser’s Wosk Center for
> Dialogue, 580 W Hastings Street in Vancouver, BC. There will be a
> video link to the UW’s Kane Hall, where the public can participate
> interactively. The public is welcome at both locations.
>
>
>
>
> Amy Hagopian, MHA, PhD
> University of Washington
> 4311 11th Av. NE #205
> Box 354982, Seattle WA 98195
>
> Phones: (206) 685-3676 reaches secretary; 616-4989 reaches my desk;
> 706-0989 is my home
>
> Fax: 616-4990